The al-nasr team stands on the cusp of a difficult task of breaking the jinx it has needed for 34 years, during which it failed to be crowned the King’s Cup, the most expensive title of the Saudi football season ever.
Al-Nasr aspires to achieve his first domestic championship of the season, when he faces the al-khaleej at First Park Stadium, in the semi-finals of the Copa del Rey, after the team lost the “Saudi Super Cup” tournament and was far removed from Al-Hilal, the leader of the Saudi Professional League.
Al-Nasr beat Gulf rivals periodically with a goal scored by Spain’s Aymeric Laporte, before a repeat clash between the sides on Wednesday in the Cup Championship, as Portugal’s Luis Castro seeks to assert his team’s advantage by winning again and qualifying for the final.
Abdel Rahman Ghraib became the first player absent from the anticipated semi-final clash against the al-khaleej, after suffering an injury in the league match between the two teams, to leave the field in the 36th minute due to a muscle injury, and move away significantly from the cup game awaiting against the opposition itself.
The al-nasr secured second place in the current season, also based on the results of the rival teams, to confirm his presence in next season’s Asian Elite Cup, as well as to ensure his participation in the Saudi Super Cup again. Portuguese Cristiano Ronaldo did not perform best against the al-khaleej periodically, with the player receiving the lowest ratings according to Suva Skor’s global website with a 6.1 rating for missing a large number of easy opportunities and not scoring a goal.
Ronaldo missed 3 certain chances to score, and 15 played only a right pass during the game, as he was caught in the sneak trap 5 times, to fail to score any goal, despite his side’s decisive victory thanks to the goal of centre-back Aymeric Laporte.
Spaniard Aymeric Laporte continued his good form recently, scoring his fourth periodic goal after scoring in the Gulf back and forth, as well as two goals in the cooperation net and damac, to reaffirm his brilliance ahead of the decider in the Copa del Rey.
Tactically, Portugal’s Luis Castro relied on a triple-defensive tactic, playing with a 3.4.2.1 plan, with Al Vatil, Omari and Laporte at the back in front of goalkeeper Ospina, and in the centre Marcelo Brozovic and Khebri double, with full-backs Sultan Al-Gh-Gh-Ghamam starting
