Al-Khaleej seeks to write its own history when Al-Nasr faces the former King’s Cup champion in the semi-finals on Wednesday, marking the first time the team from Saihat has reached this round during its participation in the competition.
Al-Nasr, the six-time King’s Cup champion, will host its Gulf counterpart at the “Awal Park” stadium in the Saudi capital, Riyadh, less than 5 days after the end of their match in the Saudi Roshen League, which the former won with a goal by its Spanish defender, Aymeric Laporte.
Al-Nasr is looking to win the King’s Cup for the first time in 34 years, especially after its chances of winning the league competition have become very slim, as it is 9 points behind its traditional rival, Al-Hilal, with the latter playing one less match.
Yellow’s campaign in the AFC Champions League ended in the quarter-finals after losing to Al-Ain of the United Arab Emirates on penalties following a 4-4 aggregate draw, while Al-Hilal eliminated them from the semi-finals of the Diriyah Saudi Super Cup with a 2-1 victory.
Al-Nasr excelled in its two matches against Al-Khaleej this season, winning the first leg 2-0 before repeating the win on Saturday with a goal by Laporte.
Gulf coach Pedro Emanuel has good memories of the King’s Cup competition, as he won it in his first season in Saudi Arabia when he was coaching Al-Taawoun 2018-2019, which was the first title in the club’s history.
Emmanuel said after the end of the last match between the two teams: We are ready to face Al-Nasr and we are striving to achieve achievement. My team is developing, and the evidence of this is its recent loss only to Al-Hilal and Al-Nasr.
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