Al Ahly paint Jeddah red with Club World Cup win over hosts Al Ittihad

The prodigious banner before the match declared “The World Is Yellow”, but in the end it was a vibrant red.

Al Ahly, out of form and out of sorts coming into their Fifa Club World Cup encounter with Arab rivals Al Ittihad, played the party poopers on a wild Friday night in Jeddah.

The hosts, carrying the hopes of a nation with them, were stunned and then steamrolled at a creaking King Abdullah Sports City. One goal down at half-time, they were down and out courtesy of three manic second-half minutes, when Ahly went two up and then three. Karim Benzema pulled one back in injury-time, but by then the damage was done.

Oh how it could’ve been all so different had the Ittihad captain, the Jeddah side's superstar player, not spurned his spot-kick to level as the first half came to a close.

The Saudi champions, beaten and no doubt bruised by this, slip from view at the second hurdle. Days after Auckland, came the anguish against Ahly. In contrast, the Egyptians, champions of Africa, plough onto the semi-finals, when they meet South American counterparts Fluminense on Monday.

Regrettably for Ittihad, they will wish it would be them instead. The night began with so much promise, a carnival atmosphere playing out before the two teams had even taken to the pitch. When they did, flares illuminated the Ahly side of the stadium, smoke wafted on the wind, and the Ittihad support responded in kind.

A giant banner, depicting those three words and the Club World Cup trophy between, covered their Ultras behind one goal.

From there, deafening boos and whistles greeted every early Ahly touch or passage of play, or roars replied to each reclaim of possession. Two of Arab world’s best-followed clubs, on the world stage, it was a powder keg of