Al Hilal new boys Darwin Nunez and Theo Hernandez both scored in the second half as the Saudi Pro League side fought back to beat Al Duhail 2-1 in their Asian Champions League Elite opener in Riyadh on Tuesday.
The Qataris had taken a 37th-minute lead through Adil Boulbina, but quickfire goals from Nunez and Hernandez sealed the points for Simone Ingazhi's side.
Al Hilal dominated the opening exchanges but it was Al Duhail who took the lead against the run of play.
Boulbina latched onto Youssouf Sabaly's searching pass from deep inside his own half to outpace the retreating Joao Cancelo, rounding goalkeeper Yassine Bounou to score from a tight angle with a composed finish.
The home side thought they had levelled in stoppage time when Turkish defender Yusuf Akicicek lashed a fierce shot into the bottom corner, only for the effort to be ruled out for an infringement in the build-up.
Half-time substitute Nunez did level, the former Liverpool forward finishing a move that also featured Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and resulted in Malcom cutting the ball back for the Uruguayan to bobble his shot past Salah Zakaria.
Hernandez put Al Hilal in front when he punished a poor defensive header, thumping his volley from the edge of the area into the Kingdom Arena turf before the ball zipped beyond Zakaria.
Al Hilal moved alongside fellow Saudis and defending champions Al Ahli plus Emirati pair Sharjah and Al Wahda on three points in the western league standings after the opening round of matches.
The competition is using the Swiss league format to determine the eight qualifiers fo the next phase, which will be played in March, from the 12-team opening round.
Earlier, Iran's Tractor FC held on to draw 1-1 with hosts Shabab Al Ahli in Dubai despite playing much of the second half with 10 men.
Tomislav Strkalj put Tractor in front with a blistering strike from outside the penalty area that gave goalkeeper Hamad Al Meqbaali little chance.
Domagoj Drozdek's straight red card for a lunge on Shabab Al Ahli's Saeid Ezatolahi left the Iranians short-handed from the 51st minute and 14 minutes later the home side levelled through Guilherme Bala after a quickly taken free kick.
If you go
- The nearest international airport to the start of the Chuysky Trakt is in Novosibirsk. Emirates (www.emirates.com) offer codeshare flights with S7 Airlines (www.s7.ru) via Moscow for US$5,300 (Dh19,467) return including taxes. Cheaper flights are available on Flydubai and Air Astana or Aeroflot combination, flying via Astana in Kazakhstan or Moscow. Economy class tickets are available for US$650 (Dh2,400).
- The Double Tree by Hilton in Novosibirsk ( 7 383 2230100,) has double rooms from US$60 (Dh220). You can rent cabins at camp grounds or rooms in guesthouses in the towns for around US$25 (Dh90).
- The transport Minibuses run along the Chuysky Trakt but if you want to stop for sightseeing, hire a taxi from Gorno-Altaisk for about US$100 (Dh360) a day. Take a Russian phrasebook or download a translation app. Tour companies such as Altair-Tour ( 7 383 2125115 ) offer hiking and adventure packages.
Our legal columnist
Name: Yousef Al Bahar
Advocate at Al Bahar & Associate Advocates and Legal Consultants, established in 1994
Education: Mr Al Bahar was born in 1979 and graduated in 2008 from the Judicial Institute. He took after his father, who was one of the first Emirati lawyers
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Multitasking pays off for money goals
Tackling money goals one at a time cost financial literacy expert Barbara O'Neill at least $1 million.
That's how much Ms O'Neill, a distinguished professor at Rutgers University in the US, figures she lost by starting saving for retirement only after she had created an emergency fund, bought a car with cash and purchased a home.
"I tell students that eventually, 30 years later, I hit the million-dollar mark, but I could've had $2 million," Ms O'Neill says.
Too often, financial experts say, people want to attack their money goals one at a time: "As soon as I pay off my credit card debt, then I'll start saving for a home," or, "As soon as I pay off my student loan debt, then I'll start saving for retirement"."
People do not realise how costly the words "as soon as" can be. Paying off debt is a worthy goal, but it should not come at the expense of other goals, particularly saving for retirement. The sooner money is contributed, the longer it can benefit from compounded returns. Compounded returns are when your investment gains earn their own gains, which can dramatically increase your balances over time.
"By putting off saving for the future, you are really inhibiting yourself from benefiting from that wonderful magic," says Kimberly Zimmerman Rand , an accredited financial counsellor and principal at Dragonfly Financial Solutions in Boston. "If you can start saving today ... you are going to have a lot more five years from now than if you decide to pay off debt for three years and start saving in year four."
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