Al Ittihad’s Fabinho said the hosts have no excuses for their Fifa Club World Cup exit to Al Ahly on Friday, but vowed to focus on still delivering silverware to the team's fans this season.
Ittihad, the home representatives as the tournament was staged in Saudi Arabia for the first time, were beaten 3-1 by their Egyptian counterparts at a sell-out King Abdullah Sports City in Jeddah.
The Saudi champions, who opened with a comfortable 3-0 victory on Tuesday against New Zealand's Auckland City, were left to rue Karim Benzema’s saved penalty at the end of the first half, which would have levelled the scores.
However, Ahly struck twice in three second-half minutes to make safe the result and, although they had Anthony Modeste sent off late and Benzema grabbed a goal back in injury-time, the African champions advanced to the semi-finals.