5 things we learned from Al-Feiha’s stunning defeat of Al-Hilal in King’s Cup final

The King’s Cup final between Al-Hilal and Al-Feiha on Thursday was a dramatic and tense encounter. After 90 minutes it was 1-1, with Salem Al-Dawsari putting Al-Hilal ahead on the stroke of halftime and Ramon Lopes equalising midway through the second half. The scoreline remained the same after extra time and Al-Feiha triumphed in the penalty shootout. There were plenty of talking points and here are just five:

1. Hard-working Al-Feiha make history

Al-Feiha had to fight for everything and were rewarded with a first major trophy in their history. They were second best in terms of possession and chances, but were always in the game and made it hard going for the league champions. Perhaps the game started more openly than coach Vuk Rasovic would have liked with Al-Hilal having chances early but then Al-Feiha settled and kept it tight for most of the two hours.

Despite falling behind, the men from Al Majma’ah kept calm, got back on level terms and then defended as if their lives depended on it. It remains to be seen whether this marks the start of a new era for the victorious team, but whatever happens, it is a night that will go down in Al-Feiha’s history.

This was a real team performance achieved through hard work, organization and fierce defending. Rasovic obviously knows how to play against Al-Hilal and his players followed his instructions to the letter, at least after the opening 10 minutes when the Riyadh giants had some good chances.

From then, it became a battle. Al-Feiha have played Al-Hilal three times this season and have conceded just one goal. Despite the loss, the champions will be happy that they will not have to face this opponent for a while.

  2. Al-Ittihad will be delighted

While this game was