Gallant Al-Ittihad goes down fighting to Atletico Madrid

JEDDAH: Atletico Madrid won their first ever exhibition match on Gulf soil by beating Al-Ittihad FC 3-2 at the King Abdullah Sports City Stadium on Friday night.
Juafran opened the scoring in the 23rd minute. Torres and Gimenez added two more goals to the tally.
It was a first ever outing for 2014 La Liga champions on the Gulf soil.
The 62,000-seat stadium was packed to capacity, giving almost the renowned atmosphere of Westfalenstadion Stadium of famous German club Borussia Dortmund.
The Saudi National anthem was played followed by the historical clip of the club and folklore graced the inauguration sending all the spectators into the wild excitement prior the match.
During the match, the host never showed any signs of being a non-European club and was equally competitive from start to finish.
Credit to electric, passionate and colorful Al-Ittihad supporters who cheered their team till the final whistle. The hosts led 2-1 at the breather. However, they conceded two goals in the 62nd and 70th minutes respectively.
It was a spirited performance from Al Ittihad FC which too a lot of courage going into their routine domestic match. For Atletico Madrid, it was a sweet present on their Christmas break as they travel back to Spain tonight.
“It is a dream come true for me to see my team play one of the top teams in Europe at my home. I am full of praise for my club management who gave us this once in a lifetime opportunity to come and enjoy this wonderful occasion,” said Abdullah 29-year-old die-hard Al-Ittihad fan.
My father brought me here as he is a big Ittihad fan. Although it is very noisy, I’ am enjoying it with my Pepsi and chips,” said Ismail, 15, another Ittihad fan.
The Christmas break in La Liga had given Atletico a chance to travel to Saudi Arabia. The reason Ittihad chose Atletico Madrid was the side’s incredible form in Spanish and European soccer as well as the fact that Atletico have not played in the Gulf region. Atletico won La Liga in 2014 was twice runner-up in the Champions League in 2014 and 2016.
This was the second high-profile match involving Saudi teams. Earlier this month, league champion Al-Ahli played in an exhibition against another popular La Liga team Barcelona in Doha, which ended 5-3 to Barcelona.