Wydad de Casablanca, winner of the African Champions League, will enter the Club World Cup (Morocco-2022) by facing the Saudi team of Al Hilal, Saturday (3:30 p.m.) in Rabat, with the hope to win and start the tournament under good auspices.
If the Red and Whites had left the competition prematurely during their first and last participation, in 2017 in the United Arab Emirates, when they were eliminated in the 1st round against the Mexicans of Pachuca (1-0), they cherish the dream, this this time, to do better, especially since they will play at home and in front of their public.
The Casablancan club will certainly carry the hopes of Moroccans during this Mondialito, insofar as the Moroccan public hopes to relive the same emotions of the last World Cup, when the Atlas Lions created a great sensation by qualifying for the semi-finals in Qatar.
It is with this desire to honor the national colors that the men of the Tunisian coach Mehdi Ennafti will play this cleaver match against Al Hilal. Despite the change at the head of its technical direction, with the departure of Walid Regragui then Houcine Ammouta, and the arrival of Ennafti, the WAC remained faithful to its style of play and managed despite all these circumstances to garner victories in Botola Pro where he is in second place behind AS FAR.
Nevertheless, Yahya Jabrane’s teammates know full well that the flesh of the bear should not be sold before having killed it. The club from the Saudi capital does not seem to have made the trip to Rabat to make up the numbers.
Indeed, the Saudi club, a regular in the competition, failed twice at the foot of the podium during its two previous participations in the World Cup.
For this edition, Al Hilal, winner of the AFC Champions League, intends, without a doubt, to break the Indian sign and reach at least the final.
He will seek, above all, to make his public forget his elimination in the semi-finals of the Saudi Arabian Supercup against Al Fayhae and sign positive results at the start of 2023.
A four-time AFC Champions League winner and as many hapless runners-up, Al-Hilal, who were heavily represented in the last Qatari World Cup with 12 players, have also won the AFC Cup Cup twice (1996-97 and 2001-02) and the AFC Supercup twice (1997 and 2000), among others.
Domestically, Al-Hilal is the most successful club in Saudi Arabia, with 18 league titles, including the trophy for the past three years (2019-20, 2020-21 and 2021-22), as well than 13 Crown Prince Cups, nine King of Champions Cups and three Saudi Super Cups
The winner of this confrontation will challenge, in the semi-finals, the Brazilian club CR Flamengo, winner of the Copa Libertadores, on February 7 in Tangier (8:00 p.m.).