Al-Ittihad defeated its guest, Auckland City, New Zealand, 3-0, this evening, Tuesday, in the opening match of the 2023 Club World Cup, setting up a fiery match with its brother, Al-Ahly of Egypt, in the second round of the tournament.

The Al-Ittihad hat-trick was scored by Romarinho, N'Golo Kante, and Karim Benzema in the match that was held at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium in the 29th, 34th, and 40th minutes, respectively.

The Tigers team controlled the course of the match most of the time, and wasted several chances, which almost raised the score to more than 3 goals.

Al-Ittihad will face its brother Al-Ahly next Friday, noting that the winner will face Brazilian Fluminense in the semi-finals, next Monday.

Al-Ittihad, which is competing in the Club World Cup for the second time in its history, achieved victory in its first match in the current edition, repeating the scenario of its first participation in 2005 when it defeated Al-Ahly of Egypt 1-0.

The Dean's Trilogy

Al-Ittihad entered the match with a major attack, taking advantage of the public support in the stands, and Romarinho threatened the New Zealand goal early with a shot from outside the penalty area that went over the crossbar.

N'Golo Kante penetrated from the right front and sent a dangerous cross, which the defense cleared and reached Igor Coronado, who shot powerfully, but it was also higher than the crossbar.

The home side's attacks continued, this time under a threat from Karim Benzema, who received the ball inside the penalty area and shot a ball that did not find its way into the net.

Auckland full-back, Regent Moratti, made a mistake in passing the ball to Benzema on the edge of the penalty area, and the French striker penetrated, but his shot was weak in the hands of the goalkeeper in the 21st minute.

After half an hour of wasting opportunities, Al-Ittihad scored 3 goals in the last quarter of an hour of the first half.

Romarinho opened the score with a powerful shot from outside the penalty area. It collided with the defense, changing direction and fouling the goalkeeper.

A few minutes later, Kante increased the score with a second goal after following up on a ball that bounced off the defense from inside the penalty area.

Auckland City did not have a chance to catch a breath, as Benzema added a third goal before the end of the half, taking advantage of a perfect cross pass from Muhannad Al-Shanqeeti, so the Saudi team entered the locker rooms in high spirits.

Continuing Saudi control

The start of the second half was similar to the first, as Al-Ittihad took almost complete control and threatened the visitors’ goal on more than one occasion, most notably from Coronado, who shot a powerful shot that the goalkeeper responded to.

But Auckland sensed the danger and began to match Al-Ittihad with attacks, and also won the first corner kick after about 50 minutes of play.

Argentine Marcelo Gallardo, Al-Ameed’s coach, preferred to rest Romarinho for the Al-Ahly match, as he brought on Portuguese Joao Felipe “Jota” instead in the 59th minute, especially since the Brazilian was returning from injury.

Al-Ittihad players continued to threaten Auckland City's goal with shots from every direction, to the point that the number of shots the team made reached 29, which is a record number in a match in the history of the Club World Cup.