The al-itthad Jeddah roster includes 6 players who have previously participated in the Club World Cup in the shirts of other clubs, most notably Karim Benzema, who played the tournament 5 times with Real Madrid, and Romarinho, who appeared with two different teams and was able to surprise Real Madrid in the 2017 version.
The club’s al-itthad Jeddah appears for the second time in its history after participating in the 2005 edition in which it was ranked fourth. The Western Club is armed with a list of players who participated in the competition in a previous period: Karim Benzema, Marcelo Grohi, Abdullah Al-Ma ‘iouf, N’ Golo Kante and Romarinho.
Unlike Benzema, who scored 4 goals in the tournament, Romarinho is more than a record in the tournament among the players of the itthad Jeddah , scoring against New Zealand’s Auckland on Tuesday, as well as against Real Madrid during his time playing the Emirati Island in the 2017 edition.
Romarinho, who made his debut for the tournament with compatriot Corinthians, scored before half-time against Real Madrid goalkeeper Keylor Navas, and the Spanish side waited until the 81st minute to score the winner thanks to Welsh Gareth Bale to finish with a 2-1 European Champions win.
Real Madrid stepped up to face Brazilian champions Gremio Libertadores, at which time Marcelo Grohi was protecting his den and blocked several dangerous balls from the Spanish team’s players, but Cristiano Ronaldo’s free-kick sealed the white win of the tournament.
N’Golo Kante won the 2021 edition with Chelsea after beating the Brazilian Palmeiras 2-1 in the final. His team overcame the semi-final hurdle against Al-Hilal and goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Ma ‘aouf, who currently plays for the itthad Jeddah, with the goal of Romelu Lukaku.
Al-Hilal participated in 3 copies of the Club World Cup, the first in 2019, and the last silver medal in the last edition following the loss to Real Madrid 5-3.
Fabinho was not on Liverpool’s list that won the 2019 edition due to injury, while Abdullah Al-Jadaani did not join the association’s list for the current tournament, which was among the elements of the al-hilal team participating in the 2022 edition.
