Saudi Arabia’s football champion, Al Hilal, hosted the American Major League Soccer side Inter Miami for the Riyadh Season Cup 2024.
Monday’s game seemed destined to end in a draw, but an 88th-minute header from Brazilian forward Malcom Filipe Silva sealed the win for Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal at the Kingdom Arena Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
This was a seven-goal thriller between Lionel Messi’s Inter Miami and Saudi giants Al-Hilal which ended 4-3 in favour of the Saudi Champions.
The Saudi Arabian side got off to a great start as former Premier League star Aleksandar Mitrovic gave the hosts the lead with just 10 minutes on the clock.
Al Hilal’s lead was doubled just three minutes later thanks to a goal by Abdullah Al Hamdan.
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Luis Suarez then halved the deficit by netting in the 37th minute.
However, just before half-time, Al Hilal restored their two-goal advantage as another Brazillian Michael Delgado scored in the 44th minute.
Messi scored on a penalty kick in the 54th minute, and 19-year-old David Ruiz added a goal one minute later to help Inter Miami storm back from a 3-1 deficit at halftime to tie the match.
The next match for Messi‘s Inter Miami after their loss against Al Hilal will be against Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Al Nassr on Thursday night at the Kingdom Arena Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Al-Nassr will hope to have the 38-year-old Ronaldo fit and ready to take on the Miami club and rekindle his rivalry with ex-Barcelona sensation Messi.
The sport fans and football lovers will on Thursday night witness what is dubbed “the last dance” of football greatness on the pitch.
This day will mark a potential final encounter between Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo.
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“It is a good rivalry that exists in football, but this is no exception. Michael Jordan had rivals in basketball, Ayrton Senna and Alain Prost were great rivals in Formula One.”
“The only common point between all the big rivalries in the sport is that they are healthy,”Ronaldo said.
