Favorites Al-Hilal wary of upset against Al-Feiha in King’s Cup final

RIYADH: It is no surprise that Al-Hilal are favorites to defeat Al-Feiha in Thursday night’s King’s Cup final.

It is a team with more than 60 titles and trophies to its name, taking on an opponent that has none. Yet the nine-time winners — only Al-Ahli with 13 have won more — will not have it all their own way at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in Jeddah.

This is the biggest game in the history of underdogs Al-Feiha, and it is going to be a right royal battle, one fitting of this tournament. Al-Hilal have had plenty of big games this season and have a few more to come but there is something special about Saudi Arabia’s premier cup competition.

If years and decades of history are against Al-Feiha then past weeks and months are not. After all, they have taken four points from Al-Hilal already this season, more than most. There was a hard-fought 0-0 draw in December in Riyadh and then, on May 3, a famous 1-0 victory for the Orange at home to delight their fans.

Such results have helped to take Vuk Rasovic’s men into a comfortable sixth place in the table which means that they can fully focus on the final. It has already been a great season for the club, but it could get a great deal better.

The Serbian boss, who led Al-Faisaly to the 2018 final where they lost to Al-Ittihad, is ready.

Rasovic said: “We know our opponents well and we know that they are the best team in Asia. We also know that we deserve to be here, and we will be ready both physically and technically. I can say however that while we know that we have to be at our best defensively against Al-Hilal, we will be playing to win.”

The odds may be against Al-Feiha, but they have in their line-up Aleksandar Trajkovski, the attacker who caused a