Al-Ittihad’s FIFA Club World Cup hopes dashed by Al-Ahly

Al-Ittihad’s FIFA Club World Cup campaign ended on Friday with a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Al-Ahly in their second-round clash in Jeddah.

Thousands of the Egyptian side’s supporters were on their feet for much of the 90 minutes at the King Abdullah Sports City stadium, as their team ultimately proved to be too clinical for the reigning Saudi champions to cope with.

Al-Ittihad fans might point to Karim Benzema’s missed penalty in the first half as a turning point but the empty seats in the home section of the stadium when the final whistle sounded told their own story.

The reward for the African champions is a semi-final showdown with South American champions Fluminense of Brazil on Monday. Al-Ittihad, who defeated Auckland City from New Zealand 3-0 in the first round of the competition on Tuesday, return to league action on Dec. 23 with a home game against Al-Raed.

For the first hour on Friday the match hung in the balance, amid an atmosphere worthy of a meeting between the champions of Saudi Arabia and Egypt. Given the passionate level of support from the Al-Ahly fans, at times their players must have felt like they were playing at home.

The first half was played at a fast pace as both teams looked to get forward, even if they struggled to create clear chances. Romarinho had one of the best early on, from inside the area, forcing a good save from Mohammed El-Shenawy.

Al-Ahly were awarded a penalty in the 19th minute when Hassan Kadesh handled a long pass while under pressure from two Egyptian attackers. Despite the wall of yellow behind the goal, Ali Maaloul kept his cool and sent the ball straight down the middle past the diving Abdullah Al-Mayouf.

Seven minutes before the break, Benzema got sight of goal when