Al-Hilal overcome Damac as exhausting season nears a disappointing end

To the end, Al-Hilal’s fans remain defiant, despite what will be seen as a hugely disappointing season.

After losing 1-0 to the now reigning champions on Friday, Damac defender Farouk Chafai noted that despite playing at home in the far southwest of the country, there were a lot of Al-Hilal fans in the stadium.

“Al-Hilal have a lot of history and popularity,” said the Algerian, “with fans all over the country.”

It was a fine, if unspectacular, win for the visitors against a committed opponent. It would be understandable if the Blues were, as they say in England, “on the beach” as their season draws to a close.

The Asian Champions League was lost in the final to the Urawa Reds in May, which means that the King’s Cup is the only silverware this season, one that promised so much. The only prize left on offer – a place in the next Champions League is already sorted – is taking third place from Al-Shabab.

The league title is gone; it is mathematically impossible for them to defend their championship. Yet they fought back earlier in the week from two goals down to draw 2-2 with Al-Ittihad and put a dent in their rivals’ chances, and now they have defeated Damac.

For a team with nothing to play for, Al-Hilal are still playing hard. As Chafai mentioned, this is history, the history of the most successful club in Saudi Arabia and Asia. With so many fans around the country, Al-Hilal are not a club that can take their feet off the gas, and this is one reason why they are a winning machine. Al-Hilal always bounce back.

Especially now. The league title has long gone with Al-Ittihad and Al-Nassr, their two biggest rivals, fighting it out. That is going to hurt, though the top two have benefitted from the fact that they have