Roberto Firmino hat-trick in Al-Ahli win kicks Saudi Arabian season off in style

JEDDAH: Roberto Firmino thrilled Jeddah, Saudi Arabia and much of the watching world on Friday with a hat-trick as Al-Ahli defeated Al-Hazem 3-1 in the opening game of the 2023-24 Roshn Saudi League season.

It was the perfect start – though the visitors may disagree – to what should be a special campaign, with some great play, big names and big-game atmospheres.

It really felt like a new era in Saudi Arabian football thanks to world-class talents such as Firmino, Riyad Mahrez and Allen Saint-Maximin who had joined from top teams in England.

Much has changed since the end of last season when Al-Ahli didn’t even celebrate promotion in May as they felt that being in the second tier was beneath a club with such a glorious history.

On Friday night, however, fans were exactly where they wanted to be at the Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium and were happy to show their appreciation.

The two teams met just a few months ago but since that clash, Al-Ahli have not just added stars from the top teams in the English Premier League but Franck Kessie from Barcelona. If that attacking talent wasn’t enough then Roger Ibanez, a Brazilian center-back who joined from Roma just 48 hours earlier was also included in the starting eleven by new coach Matthias Jaissle. 

Given such talent on display, it was not a surprise that the Jeddah giants took the game to the visitors from the get-go and it was not a surprise that there was an atmosphere by the Red Sea that the likes of Firmino, Mahrez and Kessie would have recognized from their time in the top leagues of Europe. Even hours before kick-off, one of Asia’s most storied arenas was bouncing. 

After just six minutes Ali Majrashi, who was until recently playing in Saudi Arabia’s second