Inter Miami, with Lionel Messi from the start, fell 4-3 to Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia within the framework of the first match of the United States team’s tour in Saudi lands.
In the match played at the Kingdom Arena in Riyadh, the Serbian Aleksandar Mitrovic opened the scoring 10 minutes into the first half while, two minutes later, Abdullah Al-Hamdan made it 2-0.
The Uruguayan Luis Suarez scored at 34 but the Brazilian Michael He scored 3-1 at 44.
In the second part, the Argentine star Lionel Messi He made it 3-2 with a penalty after 7 minutes and, a minute later, David Ruíz tied the match. At 43, the Brazilian Malcolm made it 4-3 final.
With this result, the Argentine team Gerardo Martino He starts his preseason tour in Saudi Arabia on the wrong foot. He will close this same one next Thursday when he faces Al Nassr of Cristiano Ronaldo.
On the side of the Portuguese Jorge Jesús, he will have more than a week of rest until the match against Al Nassr to define the champion of this preseason tournament in Riyadh.
Arriving at 10 minutes into the first half, the Arab team struck first with the Serbian goal Aleksandar Mitrovic. The Brazilian Malcolm He faced from the right, opened the middle for the Serbian Sergej Milinkovic-Savic who put the pass between the lines so that the former English Newcastle striker crossed the far post. Drake Callender and make it 1-0.
Two minutes later, Portuguese Jorge Jesús’s team increased the lead at the Kingdom Arena. The Portuguese Rubén Neves, from the right, put the center into the penalty spot where the Argentine defender Tomás Áviles cleared it, leaving the ball served to Abdullah Al-Hamdan who hit Drake Callender’s near post first, marking the 2-0.
The team of Gerardo Martino They scored in the 34th minute with a goal from Uruguayan Luís Suárez, a brand new addition to this transfer market. The youth player David Ruíz was hand in hand with goalkeeper Habib Al-Watyan on the edge of the large area and the 19-year-old midfielder put the pass, under the goalkeeper, to the left post where the former Barcelona player entered alone to score in Riyadh .
The illusion was short-lived for the Americans since, in the 44th minute, Brazilian Michael put the third with a header after a poor start by goalkeeper Drake Callender.
Already in the second half, at 7 minutes, David Ruíz was brought down in the area by Mohammed Jahfali and, after resorting to VAR, Edina Alves Batista awarded a penalty that Argentine star Lionel Messi converted into a goal with a cross shot into the left corner.
Just a minute later, the Honduran youth
American Ruiz received on the right side of the area, he took off two players and went outside the area and was diagonal to the goal. Already well positioned, the 19-year-old took a strong shot to Habib Al-Watyan’s near post to tie the match in Riyadh.
At 43 minutes, Messi was replaced by the Finn Robert Taylor. As soon as the Argentine was replaced, Yasir Al Shahrani put the center into the penalty spot where the Brazilian Malcom hit a header into the ground that goalkeeper Callender could not keep, in a poor response to the shot, and the former Barcelona player scored 4 -3.
Match summary
Riyadh Season 2024.
Al Hilal of Saudi Arabia (4) vs Inter Miami of the United States (3).
Stadium: Kingdom Arena, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Referee: Edina Alves Batista
Al Hilal: Habib Al-Watyan; Yasir Al Shahrani, Mohammed Jahfali, Khalifah Al Dawsari, Renan Lodi; Sergej Milinkovic-Savic, Rubén Neves, Michael; Malcom, Aleksandar Mitrovic and Abdullah Al-Hamdan. DT: Jorge Jesús.
Inter Miami: Drake Callender; DeAndre Yedlin, Tomás Avilés, Sergey Kryvstsov, Noah Allen, Jordi Alba; Julian Gressel, David Ruiz, Sergio Busquets; Lionel Messi and Luis Suárez. DT: Gerardo Martino.
Goals in the first half: 10m. Aleksandar Mitrovic (A); 12m.
Abdullah Al-Hamdan (A); 34m. Luis Suárez (I); 44m. Michael (A)
Goals in the second half: 7m. Lionel Messi (I); 8m. David Ruíz (A); 43m. Malcolm (A)
Changes in the second half: 26m. Mohammed Al Qahtani for Abdullah Al-Hamdan (A) and Christopher McVey for Sergey Kryvstov (I); 30m. Gregore by David Ruíz (I) and Leonardo Campana by Luís Suárez (I); 40m. Robert Taylor for Lionel Messi (I).
Source: Ambito
I am Pierce Boyd, a driven and ambitious professional working in the news industry. I have been writing for 24 Hours Worlds for over five years, specializing in sports section coverage. During my tenure at the publication, I have built an impressive portfolio of articles that has earned me a reputation as an experienced journalist and content creator.
