Saudi giants Al Hilal and Al Ittihad of Jeddah surprised followers of the first leg of the AFC Champions League quarter-finals after the frustrating level they showed and tied their draw at Al Jawhara Radio.
"Emirates Today" monitored the top five reasons behind the lack of fun performance in front of 54 thousand spectators in the stands, and the public, who was avid for the game behind the screens.
1
temperature
Both players suffered from deteriorating physical conditions during the confrontation due to the hot weather in Jeddah, where the temperature reached 39 degrees Celsius, which reflected on the poor performance.
2
Whistle
Al-Hilal were particularly affected by the whistle of Australian referee Chris Beth, who did not give a clear penalty - according to arbitration experts - in the interest of the leader, and would have brought the technical level to a better reality, when the giant Gomez hit the ball to the goal strongly hit the defender of the Union.
3
Caution and conglomerate
The game was overshadowed by an exaggerated and unpredictable caution from two teams who are proficient in the offensive ball.
4
Naive errors
Did not provide the resonant names in the stadium, even half of the usual technical level and the players made mistakes in the receipt and delivery, and many balls cut in the real attacks, and the chance of the player Romarinho the most troublesome shot for the federation after wasting a goal in front of the legitimate goal without taking advantage of goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Maayouf.
5
Surprise aliens
Foreign players from both teams - notably Romarino, Chilean Jimenez from Al Ittihad, Peruvian Carilo and Frenchman Gomez from Al Hilal - did not persuade, while Chilean Villanueva and Italian Giovinco did well.