MIAMI GARDENS, Fla. (AP) — Xabi Alonso got off to a disappointing start at Real Madrid as the Spanish giant was held to a 1-1 draw by Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal in the Club World Cup on Wednesday.
In his first game as coach of the 15-time European champion, Alonso was denied victory when Federico Valverde’s stoppage-time penalty was saved.
The VAR-awarded spot kick looked like it would hand Madrid – and Alonso – a late reprieve after being pushed all the way at Hard Rock Stadium by Al Hilal under new coach Simone Inzaghi.
But the Group H game ended tied, with Gonzalo Garcia scoring for Madrid in the 34th minute and Ruben Neves equalizing for Al Hilal from the penalty spot seven minutes later.
Key moment
Madrid was given a chance at victory when VAR spotted a foul by Mohammed Alqahtani on Fran Garcia in the box.
Valverde stepped up to take the penalty two minutes into added time, but he dropped to his knees after his low effort was saved by Yassine Bounou, sparking wild celebrations from the Al Hilal goalkeeper’s teammates.
Takeaways
While it was an underwhelming start for Alonso, Inzaghi’s Al Hilal made an early statement of its potential by holding its own against Madrid.
It might have been even better for Saudi Arabia’s most successful team, which was without injured star striker Aleksandar Mitrovic, if Marcos Leonardo taken one of three chances in front of goal.
What they said
“We know that things take time. We know that some things need to change. I saw a good reaction in the second half. We need good results here because it is a tough competition, but everything takes time.” — Xabi Alonso, Real Madrid coach.
“We put in a good performance against Real Madrid, which is one of the strongest teams in the world. Arabic football is getting better and better year in, year out. The infrastructure they are building, the organization they’ve got, I’ve really found a great club and they are giving me everything I asked of them.” – Simone Inzaghi, Al Hilal coach.
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James Robson is at https://twitter.com/jamesalanrobson
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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
