2023 Club World Cup: Karim Benzema Failed To Take Al Ittihad To The Semifinals

Al Ahly stepped into the semifinals of the 2023 Club World Cup after beating Al Ittihad (Instagram/@alahly).

JAKARTA - The second round of the 2023 Club World Cup brought together Al Ahly vs Al Ittihad at King Abdullah Sports City on Saturday, December 16, 2023.

AL Ahly as the representative of the African Confederation (CAF) successfully defeated Al Ittihad, the Asian representative (AFC), with a score of 3-1. The victory brought the Egyptian team to the semifinals.

Al Ittihad, who went through the first half by beating Auckland City 3-0, failed to continue his slick trend. As the tournament hosts, they failed to go further.

The Tigers, nicknamed Al Ittihad, actually appeared more dominant with 57 percent possession of the ball. They even fired more shots than the opponent, which was 15 times, six of which were right on target.

However, Al Ittihad suffered a disaster first in the 19th minute. Hassan Kadesh was proven to be handball in the penalty box after going through a video assistant referee (VAR) review.

Ali Maaloul, who became the executor for Al Ahly, succeeded in carrying out his duties.

Al Ittihad actually had the opportunity to equalize in the 45th minute. Handball Mohamed Abdelmonem after a VAR review resulted in a penalty.

Unfortunately, Karim Benzema's execution could still be parried by goalkeeper Mohamed El Shenawy. The 1-0 score for Al Ahly lasted until halftime.

In the second half, Al Ittihad increasingly bombarded the Al Ahly defense. A golden opportunity was created when the game was running for 10 minutes.

However, Faisal Al-Ghamdi is still unlucky. The measured shot actually slid past the foot gap of goalkeeper El Shenawy, but the ball still hit the post and was immediately secured by the opponent.

Instead of getting a equalizer goal, The Tigers even missed again. Huseein El Shahat broke into Abdullah Al Maiouf's goal in the 59th minute.

He fired a placing shot that made Red Giant, Al Ahly's nickname, lead 2-0.

Al Ittihad's mentality is getting more fragile. Al Ahly only needed three minutes to get back away.

Al Ahly's third goal came in the 62nd minute through Emam Ashour's action after a quick counter-attack.

Al Ittihad seemed to have difficulty opening the tap to the end of the match. Their attacks always failed.

The host's efforts only succeeded after Al Ahly played with 10 players in the 90th minute. Anthony Modeste got a red card right after elbowing Ahmed Hegazy.

Karim Benzema finally resolved his mistake in the 92nd minute. He scored a goal using Hegazy's header from a corner.

However, that goal was meaningless. Al Ittihad's dream of appearing in the semifinals of the 2023 Club World Cup was dashed.

Al Ahly is heading to the top four and has been waiting for Conmebol's representative, Fluminense, to fight for tickets to the final.

The semifinals of the 2023 Club World Cup will be held on 18 and 19 December 2023 local time. Another semifinal brings together the Red Diamonds Urawa against Manchester City.