Ighalo Close To Club World Cup Glory

Odion Ighalo will.be chasing a personal and club dream when Al-Hilal battle European champions Real Madrid in the final of the Club World Cup at the Prince Moulay Abdellah Stadium in Morocco on Saturday.

However, it will be no easy feat as the 14-time Champions League winners are perennial winners and will be keen to extend their record of trophies at the competition.

Saudi Arabia’s Al Hilal stunned South American champions Flamengo to reach Club World Cup final with a 3-2 victory on Tuesday, thanks to two penalties from Salem Al Dawsari and a close-range strike from Luciano Vietto.

Madrid made it to the final after defeating African champions Al Ahly 4-1 on Wednesday.

Goals from Vinícius Júnior, Valverde, Rodrygo and Sergio Arribas handed the UEFA Champions League winners the semi-final spot over Al Ahly at the Stade Prince Moulay Abdallah in Rabat.

While the final will be rightly tagged the battle of the Asian and European champions, it bears an even more personal significance for Ighalo, who will be keen to take the chance to lift the first intercontinental trophy of his career as they battle a stronger opponent who are boosted by Balon d’Or winner Karim Benzema’s return and have a depth of talent and class.

Ighalo is dreaming of a historic win against Los Blancos.

“This is a very ambitious club. They don’t understand losing. Since I joined, every tournament we go out there to win. The league, the Champions League, the King’s Cup, the Club World Cup. Every game we play is like a final. When you put on the shirt of Al Hilal, you always have to win. We want to go for every trophy. It’s exactly the same for this Club World Cup,” Ighalo told fifa.com.

“Everything is possible in football. Nowadays you can’t predict what’s going to happen. Al Hilal will fight and win it, because in football it’s possible to do anything when you work hard and believe in yourself.”

The final also presents the former Manchester United striker an opportunity to end his run of games without a goal against Real Madrid. In three appearances while in the colours of Granada, Ighalo never found the back of the net against Madrid.

Granada lost two of those games, including a 5-1 thrashing at the Santiago Bernabéu in January 2012, and former Super Eagles forward Ikechukwu Uche provided the assist to Granada’s only goal on the night. That positive contribution was, however, drowned by strikes from Cristiano Ronaldo, Gonzalo Higuain, Karim Benzema (brace) and Sergio Ramos.

However, Ighalo’s last match against Real Madrid ended in celebration as a Cristiano Ronaldo own goal helped Granada seal a narrow 1-0 win over the side then managed by Jose Mourinho in February 2013.

Just over 10 years later, Ighalo will hope for another win, and while he would dream that he finds the back of the net against the four-time champions, the Nigerian striker would definitely just be glad to win the game whether by his goal, one from a teammate, or even a fortuitous own goal like in the last one.

With 10 goals in 18 appearances this season, Ighalo’s contributions will certainly be of the utmost importance to Al-Hilal, who have only lost two of their 19 competitive matches in all competitions this season, as they seek to pull off an almighty upset and claim a first-ever Club World Cup trophy.

Also read: Ighalo scores, assists in Al Hilal win

Punch/Samuel Isaiah