Al-Hilal showed Saudi league not just about money, says Koulibaly

ORLANDO: Saudi Arabia’s Al-Hilal bowed out of the Club World Cup on Friday, after a 2-1 defeat to Fluminense, but after an unexpected run to the last eight they have left their mark on the global stage.

Simone Inzaghi’s team beat Manchester City 4-3 in the round-of-16, delivering the biggest upset of the tournament and one of the competition’s most thrilling games.

Al-Hilal began their campaign with a draw against Spanish giants Real Madrid and they came through the group stage unbeaten with a draw against Champions League regulars Salzburg and a 2-0 win over six-times CONCACAF Champions Cup winners Pachuca of Mexico.

With a squad that mixes local Saudi talent with international recruits, the newly appointed Inzaghi was able to take the team to the brink of the last four.

For former Napoli defender and Senegal international Kalidou Koulibaly, one of the expensively recruited foreign players, the performances at the first 32-team Club World Cup, were a message that the Saudi league is not just a lucrative retirement home for European and South American players.

“We showed that the teams from Saudi are very strong, very powerful and we have a lot of good players. Everyone thinks that when we went there we only went for the financial argument but we showed that we are working over there,” he told reporters.

“We showed it at this World Cup and every team who played against us can see that we have talent. We want to improve the league, we have improved a lot in two years,” he added.

Koulibaly was one of the early recruits to the Saudi Pro League, after leaving Premier League team Chelsea to join the Riyadh club and he said he has witnessed rapid growth in the league.

“I was there at the beginning and I see today it