History shows Al-Hilal should relish underdog status in Japan

In the days running up to the second leg of the 2004 Asian Champions League final, a van drove around the streets of the South Korean city of Seongnam with a loudspeaker telling locals to get down to the stadium to watch their team win the continental title. The confidence was understandable. Seongnam Ilhwa Chunma had beaten Al-Ittihad 3-1 in Jeddah a few days earlier and the return match was seen as a foregone conclusion by most fans and observers. The fact that the early December evening was freezing was seen as another reason why the Saudi side would not be able to handle the occasion.

Al-Ittihad, inspired by Mohammed Noor, ran out 5-0 winners. Nobody saw it coming — it was the greatest comeback in the history of the competition. It means that there is some inspiration and history for Al-Hilal as they prepare for their second leg against Urawa Reds of Japan. The first leg ended 1-1 last Saturday in front of a disappointed home crowd, and while the situation is nowhere near as bad as it was going in to that night two decades ago, the Riyadh giants, looking to extend their record in the tournament to five titles, have a lot of work to do.

The first issue is the scoreline. Most expected that Al-Hilal would have a lead to take to Japan. Salem Al-Dawsari opened the scoring in the first half and 56,000 fans were ready to see the Blues, the pre-match favorites, go on to build a comfortable cushion to take to Saitama Stadium. Yet there was a freak equalizer early in the second half that gave Urawa, who had not really looked like scoring until that point, confidence and something to build on.

And then, there are the absences. Al-Dawsari, talisman for both club and country and a star of Asian football, was shown a straight