Caitlin Dillon
As the FIFA Club World Cup kicked off in Doha for the very first time, Al Sadd and Hienghene Sport took to the field, playing out a thrilling encounter to inaugurate the tournament.
Despite hailing from opposite sides of the globe, the teams share a similarity - Hienghene’s home country, New Caledonia, has a tiny population of 280,000 – roughly the same as the Qatari population residing in the tournament’s host nation.
As the match got underway, the home side claimed the majority of the possession but Hienghene’s strong defence and artistic flair caused upset throughout the match, with the first real chance coming from Hienghene’s Antoine Roine in the 18th minute, with a stunning overhead kick.
Roine had another chance in the 25th minute as Al Sadd made an early change - Qatar national team’s captain, Hassan Al-Haydos, came on in the place of Abdulaziz Al Ansari.
Just one minute later, 2018 AFC Player of the Year Abdelkarim Hassan worked the ball down the left-hand side for Algeria international Baghdad Bounedjah to expertly dink into the net. A VAR check ensued, and the home team went 1-0 ahead.
As the game approached half time, each side had their fair share of chances at goal, including a disallowed offside goal for Al Sadd’s Akram Afif. However, upon their return to the pitch Hienghene came out fighting, with Roine finally getting the goal he had been desperately searching for. A moment of panic followed for the New Caledonians, as Algerian Mustapha Ghorbal initially disallowed the equaliser, however VAR overturned the decision and the goal stood.
Unlucky Al Sadd had a second goal, created by Al-Haydos, disallowed in the 66th minute. Adding insult to injury, Hieghnene’s skipper, Antony Kai, responded with a powerful shot on target, blocked by Saad Al Sheeb.
In the 70th minute, Felix Tagawa switched out his goal scorer for Kohei Matsumoto, indicating a change in tactics and the start of more defensive play.
Despite 69% possession and two disallowed goals, Al Sadd struggled through the remainder of the 90 minutes trying repeatedly to get ahead, but it was to no avail, putting the game into extra time.
Ten minutes in, extraordinary scenes played out as Al Sadd were awarded an indirect free kick. All 11 of Hienghene’s men got in goal, yet Abdelkarim effortlessly curved the ball over them and into the back of the net.
An exhausted Heinghene squad could only look on, as Pedro netted Al Sadd’s third and final goal, putting the game to bed once and for all, and cementing his team’s place in the second round.
Al Sadd will face Monterrey of Mexico on Saturday at 20:30 at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium.