The Portuguese was heavily linked with a move to the Saudi side ahead of the tournament, but the move didn't make sense for anyone concerned
Gianni Infantino made no secret of his desire to see Cristiano Ronaldo compete at the Club World Cup. The FIFA president even publicly revealed during an interview with CR7 super-fan IShowSpeed last month that some of the participants in the expanded tournament were considering signing the Portuguese forward.
Ronaldo subsequently admitted himself that he had received several offers to "play in the Club World Cup", but ultimately decided that he would be better served by re-signing with Al-Nassr before taking a much-needed break from the game.
"I think it didn't make sense," the 40-year-old told his club's official TV channel, "because I prefer to have a good rest, a good preparation, because next season will be very long, with the World Cup at the end."
Crucially, Al-Hilal didn't think signing Ronaldo made much sense either – and their stunning run to the quarter-finals of the Club World Cup has shown precisely why they were right to avoid the CR7 sideshow…
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Ronaldo unquestionably played a pivotal part in Al-Hilal's success. If he hadn't joined Al-Nassr in January 2023, nowhere near as many high-profile players would have subsequently followed him to the Middle East. Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund may have stumped up the cash, but Ronaldo provided the 'credibility' the Saudi Pro League so desperately required.
His mere presence at Al-Awwal Park attracted the attention of his millions and millions of fans all around the world, as well as a number of other stars seeking one last lucrative payday – including Neymar. Al-Hilal's acquisition of Brazil's all-time leading goal-scorer was essentially their response to city rivals Al-Nassr landing Ronaldo. Unfortunately, Neymar proved a colossal waste of money, scoring just one goal in seven appearances during an 18-month stay that cost the club almost $200 million in fees and wages.
However, while investing such a massive amount of money in the notoriously fragile forward proved a disastrous decision, at least from a sporting perspective, Al-Hilal's other stellar signings from the summer of 2023 have nearly all delivered. Indeed, The Blue Waves were almost immediately rewarded for targeting players that still had plenty left to offer at the highest level.
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A formidable team containing international-level performers such as Yassine Bounou, Kalidou Koulibaly, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Ruben Neves and Aleksandar Mitrovic left Ronaldo's Al-Nassr trailing in their wake as they won the 2023-24 Saudi Pro League title without losing a single game.
Al-Hilal failed to retain their title last season, while they were also upset by eventual winners Al-Ahli in the semi-finals of the AFC Champions League, resulting in the dismissal of Jorge Jesus as coach. However, they remained quietly optimistic about their chances of reaching the last 16 of Infantino's radically revamped Club World Cup – and with good reason.
For starters, Al-Hilal had deepened their pool of talent with the additions of Joao Cancelo and Marcos Leonardo before finally ridding themselves of Neymar during the January transfer window. But even more significantly, the four-time time champions of Asia managed to find a remarkable replacement for Jesus just before the start of the Club World Cup.
AFPInstant impact
It's still not entirely clear when exactly Simone Inzaghi agreed to take charge of Al-Hilal, and it remains a touchy subject among Inter fans, some of whom suspect the decision was taken before the Champions League final on June 1, and thus contributed to the Nerazzurri’s calamitous 5-0 loss to Paris Saint-Germain in Munich. However, all we know for certain is that Al-Hilal’s willingness to make the former Lazio striker one of the highest-paid coaches on the planet is already reaping rewards.
They certainly demanded a lot from Inzaghi. "This season we came off second [in the Saudi Pro League] – that's below par for what is expected from us," Al-Hilal CEO Esteve Calzada told the . "And, very simply, what we expect from the new coach is that he helps us to win again and to [reclaim] our championship."
What Calzada & Co. did not expect, though, was for Inzaghi to almost instantaneously transform the team into Club World Cup contenders – and yet that's exactly what he's done.
AFP'Not here on holiday!'
Inzaghi only took charge of Al-Hilal on June 4 – precisely two weeks before their daunting tournament opener against Real Madrid – but it didn’t take him long to make his presence felt. Having a stellar CV meant the dressing room was behind him from the get-go, but an undefeated run through the group stage – sparked by a surprise but fully-deserved 1-1 draw with Los Blancos – provided immediate validation of the new boss’ methods.
"Inzaghi is a top coach," former Napoli centre-back Koulibaly told FIFA after the 2-0 win over Pachuca that sealed a spot in the knockout stage. "I got to know him in Italy and played against his teams a lot. He had a great run with Inter, making it to the Champions League final twice and winning the Scudetto. We haven't worked with him much in training, but his ideas are clear. He gets us to watch plenty of videos, and we chat a lot about tactics. Now we're seeing the impact on the pitch."
Consequently, Koulibaly was optimistic about his side’s chances of defeating the mighty Manchester City in the last 16, and was clearly irked by the idea that they were there just to make up the numbers: "We know that they are one of the best teams in the world, but we need to believe in ourselves. We're not here on holiday! We're here to win matches. We know it won't be easy, but it's only 90 minutes or so. If we can keep that in mind, I truly believe we can do something special."
And he was right.