Scandal in the Saudi Arabian Super Cup final: a fan hit a player from Gallardo’s team with a whip

The end of Saudi Arabian Super Cup ended with an unusual scandal. It is normal that after a decisive match the spirit of the players, the coaching staff and the public is altered. But rarely does a fan hit a footballer with a whip. It happened this Thursday after the defeat of the team that Marcelo Gallardo driving in the Asian country, Al Ittihadwho he lost to again Al Hilalfrom Portuguese Jorge Jesus.

The team dressed in blue and with Jesus on the bench won 4-1 at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium in Abu Dhabi, in the United Arab Emirates and won the trophy for the fourth time in its history. However, what attracted the most attention was what happened between a fan and the Al Ittihad striker. Abderrazak Hamdallah.

The Frenchman’s attacking partner Karim Benzema (he was a starter), he approached the stands behind the reserve benches at the end of the match to scold a fan who, from the third step, was criticizing him for his performance on the pitch. The footballer threw him some water from the bottle he had in his hand to hydrate after the effort and The fan responded with a whip.

From the grandstand, the man hit Hamdallah three times, the same way a rider quickens his horse’s pace with a whip. Stadium security staff immediately stopped the fan and prevented him from continuing to hit the player, who showed no pain and even attempted to climb onto the stands to respond to the physical attack.

On the playing field, Once again Jorge Jesús’ team was clearly superior to Marcelo Gallardo’s. Brazilian Malcom opened the scoring in the 4th minute, but Abderrazak Hamdallah equalized in the 21st minute. Then it was the turn of the men in blue: Salem Al Dawsari (who had scored a goal for the Argentine national team in the 2nd minute). 1 since his World Cup debut in Qatar) made it 2-1 before half-time. While Malcom and Nasser Aldawsari sealed the victory for Jorge Jesús’ team.

For Gallardo, facing the Portuguese coach’s teams has become a real challenge karma. He lost with River in the final of the 2019 Copa Libertadores, in Lima, against Flamengo led by Jesús. And in Saudi Arabia they have already lost four games in a row against Al Hilal: one in the league, two in the Asian Champions League (they were eliminated) and now in the Super Cup final.

Meanwhile, Al Hilal continues to increase its Guinness record of consecutive victories: with this Thursday’s victory there are already 34 successes in a row.