Simone Inzaghi has only been head coach of Al-Hilal for a matter of weeks, but already he has led the Saudi Arabian side to the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup.
Al-Hilal secured a spot in the last eight of the tournament in sensational fashion with a dramatic 4-3 victory against Manchester City on Monday, scoring twice in extra-time to produce arguably the biggest shock of the Club World Cup so far.
Brazilian forward Marcos Leonardo scored the decisive goal in the 112th minute – his second of the game after Phil Foden had equalized for Man City.
Inzaghi, who only recently oversaw Inter Milan’s Champions League final defeat against Paris Saint-Germain, showered his players with praise after the match.
“The key to this result was the players, and the heart they put on the pitch tonight,” he said, per Reuters. “We had to do something extraordinary because we all know Manchester City, that team.
“We had to climb Mount Everest without oxygen and we made it. All the players were exceptional in everything, in the possession phase, the non-possession phase.”
Bernardo Silva bundled in the first goal of the game at Orlando’s Camping World Stadium inside 10 minutes, setting up what many expected to be a routine victory for the Premier League side.
But Leonardo leveled the match at the start of the second half when he headed in Rúben Dias’ block, before Malcom’s breakaway goal moments later gave Al-Hilal a 2-1 lead.
The advantage was short-lived with Erling Haaland scoring from a corner, and the game remained at 2-2 for the rest of the 90 minutes after Haaland had an attempt cleared off the line by Ali Lajami.
Kalidou Koulibaly’s header put Al-Hilal back into the lead in extra-time, but substitutes Rayan Cherki and Foden combined to send the match to a thrilling conclusion. And that came courtesy of Leonardo’s winner when Sergej Milinković-Savić’s header was saved by Ederson into his path.
Al-Hilal will now face Brazilian side Fluminese in the Club World Cup quarterfinals having ended a 20-game winless run for Asian teams against European opponents in FIFA club competitions.
“We knew that it would be a difficult game against one of the best teams in the world and we wanted to show our ideas, our talents and our power,” said Koulibaly, per FIFA.com.
“We made a very good game; we took our chances so we can be happy. We wanted to show that Al-Hilal have the power and the talent to be here and we showed a great mentality.”
For more CNN news and newsletters create an account at CNN.com
