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Jeddah - Yasmine El Tohamy - A Saudi Arabian football season for the ages is in the can.
With the eyes of the world directed toward the Kingdom after last summer’s revolutionary transfer spree, we witnessed Al-Hilal in all-conquering form, Al-Nassr icon Cristiano Ronaldo showcase his evergreen abilities, and much more.
Here, Arab News dissects the high and lows from an unforgettable 2023-24:
Best team: Al-Hilal
Al-Hilal not only produced Saudi Arabia’s strongest campaign, but one of the greatest in football history.
Their numbers were staggering. The returning Jorge Jesus orchestrated a clean domestic sweep of Saudi Super Cup, Roshn Saudi League and King Cup; a World Record 34-consecutive victories across all competitions; won 31 out of 34 top-flight fixtures, netting 101 goals and conceding just 23.
They had to be this good to repeatedly disappoint 2023-24’s finest performer.
Best player: Cristiano Ronaldo (Al-Nassr)
Ronaldo stood tallest, even amid an injection of world-class talent.
A final-night brace against long-dethroned champions Al-Ittihad — emphatically celebrated — set a new benchmark for goals in a RSL season, with 35. Only Al-Ahli’s Riyad Mahrez (13) and compatriot Ruben Neves (12) bettered his 11 assists.
Moments of unmatched quality and unquenched desire underlined the 39-year-old’s merciless ability to defy the waning effects of time, especially November’s ludicrous lob against Al-Okhdood. There was even opportunity to collect four RSL match-balls, for hat-tricks.
Best Saudi player: Saud Abdulhamid (Al-Hilal)
Saud Abdulhamid deserved to head this prestigious list for unleashing a trademark ‘‘chair” celebration in April’s heated King’s Cup semifinal versus boyhood club Al-Ittihad, let alone his imperious 2023-24 displays.
The ceaseless 24-year-old right-back looked effortlessly at ease amid a stellar new cast. A career-best three league goals, also, equalled his tally from all prior campaigns.
Links to Ligue 1’s Toulouse provided a tantalising glimpse of a global future for this defender, who overshadowed celebrated colleague Salem Al-Dawsari and Al-Ahli’s 19-goal striker Firas Al-Buraikan.
Best coach: Pericles Chamusca (Al-Taawoun)
It takes something special to outshine Al-Hilal’s Jesus.
Pericles Chamusca delivered this for dark-horses Al-Taawoun. The gregarious Brazilian defied a slew of summer exits headlined by assist-machine Kaku and versatile Saudi Arabia defender Hassan Kadesh, plus winter sale of influential Spanish midfielder Alvaro Medran.
Amid this maelstrom, a fourth-placed finish — five-points ahead of fallen giants Al-Ittihad — secured AFC Champions League Two qualification. He departs to ambitious Yelo League-outfit NEOM SC with head held high.
Best goal: Bernard Mensah (Al-Tai 1-4 Al-Ahli)
Take your pick from Bernard Mensah’s monumental campaign at relegated Al-Tai.
February’s George Weah-esque run from deep through several Al-Ahli defenders and pin-point low finish past Senegal goalkeeper Edouard Mendy just edges May’s logic-defying slaloming run through a packed penalty box against Al-Fateh.
Best signing: Aleksandar Mitrovic (Al-Hilal)
An addition who was worth the wait.
Al-Hilal spent all summer haggling with Fulham for their colossal Serbia center forward. This push was rewarded by 40 goals in 43 games, including an early King Cup final opener, hat-trick in September’s emblematic 4-3 victory at holders Al-Ittihad and brace in December’s 3-0 Riyadh Derby triumph versus Al-Nassr.
This prized eye-for-goal, plus an unquantifiable indefatigable nature, helped to move Mitrovic beyond team-mates Malcom and Neves, plus Al-Nassr’s Marcelo Brozovic, Al-Ahli’s Franck Kessie and Al-Fayha’s Fashion Sakala.
Worst signing: Habib Diallo (Al-Shabab)
Eighth-placed Al-Shabab’s season to forget was exemplified by Diallo’s travails.
The recruit from Strasbourg struck only six times in 30 league run-outs, also enduring a near five-month goal drought between his second and third strikes.
This middling contribution by the Senegal striker ranked lower than then-England captain Jordan Henderson’s brief sojourn at Ettifaq and a heart-breaking early end to a Brazil megastar’s campaign.
Biggest disappointment (Neymar — Al-Hilal)
Events on the other side of the globe reverberated in the Kingdom.
October’s catastrophic knee injury incurred by Neymar on World Cup 2026-qualifying duty for Brazil brought a shuddering halt to his Al-Hilal duties. This burst the rampant excitement generated by August’s epic unveiling in Riyadh, on arrival from Paris Saint-Germain.
The maverick Brazil forward only played three RSL games and netted a solitary AFC Champions League effort. There should be so much more to come in 2024-25.
Season to forget: Al-Ittihad
Things can only get better for Al-Ittihad after a dismal RSL title defense.
A quantum leap had been predicted once the end of a 14-year top-flight trophy wait was followed by the additions of Ballon d’Or winner Karim Benzema, France midfielder N’Golo Kante and Brazil anchorman Fabinho. RSL-winning manager Nuno Espirito Santo, however, departed in October with his deflated squad a distant sixth.
Coveted replacement Marcelo Gallardo then endured a one-sided 3-1 thumping by Egypt’s Al-Ahly in Jeddah during December’s Club World Cup’s quarter-finals, with the trophy-less team limping home fifth — 42 points behind Al-Hilal — and outside AFC Champions League Elite qualification. A disrupted campaign also saw Benzema net just 16 times in 33 run-outs.
Funniest moment: Noureddine Zekri’s survival celebration
A bewildered Sadio Mane came close with a hilarious pre-match double-take after seeing club-mate Ali Lajami’s mirror image of twin Qassem, in Al-Fateh’s line-up.
But nothing beats Noureddine Zekri’s iconic reaction to keeping debutants Al-Okhdood up. The 59-year-old manager went viral with a slow-motion run across the pitch and “superman” flop at the final whistle of matchweek 34’s relegation-decider at doomed Al-Tai.
Ones to watch: (Al-Qadsiah)
A club owned by Saudi Aramco are expected to make a big splash in 2024-25.
Dominant Yelo League winners Al-Qadsiah emphasized their expectant status last month by beating Roma to Uruguay midfielder Nahitan Nandez’s signature, with much more to come.
A repeat of promoted Al-Ahli’s charge to third is not out of the question, judging by early impressions. Their recent reputation as a yo-yo outfit should be shredded.
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