Fresh from their seismic win over Manchester City, Al Hilal return to their Fifa Club World Cup quest on Friday with a semi-final spot up for grabs.
Standing in their way at the Camping World Stadium in Orlando will be Brazilian side Fluminense, who slayed a European giant of their own in the last 16, sweeping aside Italian club Inter Milan 2-0 on Monday.
With the dust still settling from that surprise win, Al Hilal produced the shock of the tournament so far by defeating Pep Guardiola's City 4-3 in a thrilling battle, despite being without captain Salem Al Dawsari and striker Aleksandr Mitrovic.
With the scores level at 2-2 at the end of 90 minutes, goals from Kalidou Koulibaly and Marcos Leonardo – his second of the match – would earn the Saudi Pro League side victory, despite Phil Foden pulling City level in extra-time.
Midfielder Sergej Milinkovic-Savic described Hilal's achievement as “inexplicable” adding that their performances in the United States is testament to the growing stature of Saudi football.
“We played against one of the best teams in the world and this motivates us more for the next games,” said the Serb midfielder.
“It’s a historic accomplishment for us, the club and the whole country. We believed for every single second and we’ve done it.
“It was a massive game and a huge result. For anyone who doubts our league, we’ve shown on the pitch that the Saudi league is strong – we proved it to the world.
“We were missing several key players, which is never ideal. But our squad is deep and full of quality. Everyone who stepped on to the pitch played at a high level and helped us overcome one of the best teams in the world.”
The win was all the more remarkable for the fact that head coach Simone Inzaghi only took charge two weeks before the start of the tournament, replacing Jorge Jesus.
Despite the fact the Italian has had little time to work with the team, Inzaghi has led Hilal to draws with Spanish giants Real Madrid and Red Bull Salzburg before going on to beat Pachuca and now City.
“It is barely three weeks that we are together and you can see the level of application, they really put the effort in. As a coach clearly that is very satisfying,” said Inzaghi, who left Inter after their Uefa Champions League final thrashing by Paris Saint-Germain last month.
Should they triumph in the quarter-finals, Hilal could face another English Premier League side in the last four as they will take on the winners of Chelsea's clash with Brazilian side Palmeiras.
Ahead of Friday's game, Al Hilal have signed Morocco international Abderrazak Hamdallah on an emergency loan from Saudi club Al Shabab.
The 34-year-old striker and three-time SPL Golden Boot winner trained with the team on Wednesday and will bolster their attacking options with Mitrovic yet to play a single minute at the tournament.
Hamdallah has been a prolific striker in the kingdom, netting 150 goals in 163 SPL games for Al Nassr, Al Ittihad and Al Shabab – leaving him third behind Omar Al Somah (155) and Nasser Al Shamrani (154) in the country's all-time scoring chart.
A well-travelled career has also seen Hamdallah play in Norway, China and Qatar, while his 25 appearances for Morocco have yielded seven goals.
Fluminense, meanwhile, head into the game on a similar high to Hilal having denied Inter the chance of putting one over former coach Inzaghi thanks to goals from German Cano and substitute Hercules.
Like Hilal, Fluminense are unbeaten in the US with goalless draws with Borussia Dortmund and Mamelodi Sundowns sandwiching a 4-2 win over Ulsan HD.
Charismatic manager Renato Gaucho only took over three months ago but has brought the best out of a squad that narrowly avoided the drop from the Brazilian top flight in 2024.
“Despite the short time frame, I praise the players for believing in the new plan. I convinced them that it would work,” Renato said after beating Inter in Charlotte.
“We were not facing just any team. We were facing one of the giants of European football, a team that just a few days ago was playing in the Champions League final against PSG.
“We are very proud of ourselves for the affection and joy we are bringing to our fans and, without a doubt, to Brazilian football.
“We are proving that we have commitment and attitude on the pitch. Off the pitch, we can't compete financially, but on the pitch it's 11 against 11. That's it.”
