Egyptian club Al Ahly destroyed the Saudi Arabian side Al Ittihad 3-1 in the quarter-final of the ongoing FIFA Club World at the King Abdallah Sports City in Jeddah.
Argentine manager Marcello Gallardo paraded his top-notch players- Karim Benzema, Ngolo Kante, Fabinho, Ahmed Hegazy and Romarinho but could not match the urgency and the determination of Al Ahly.
Marcel Koller paraded 9 Egyptians with Percy Tau and Ali Maaloul as the only foreigners in the starting eleven.
Al Ahly opened the scoring from the spot kick through Tunisian left-back Ali Maaloul in the 27th minute. Karim Benzema missed a penalty on the stroke of halftime as Al Ahly went to the break leading 1-0. Hussein El Shahat doubled the Egyptian’s lead in the 59th minute and Emam Ashour scored Al Ahly’s third three minutes later.
Al Ittihad pulled one back through Karim Benzema in the 92nd minute but it was too late for a comeback.
Al Ahly will face South American champions Fluminense in the semi-finals.
In the early quarter-final game, Club Leon of Mexico lost 1-0 to Japanese side Urawa Reds.
Urawa Reds will meet European champions Manchester City in the other semi-finals.