Today, Friday, Saudi League champion Al Hilal and fellow Egyptian League champion Zamalek will meet in the Qatari capital Doha at the opening festival of the Lusail Stadium, the most important stadium for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.
The champions of Egypt and Saudi Arabia were chosen to officially open the stadium, test its readiness and modernize operations under pressure at full capacity, identify shortcomings and weaknesses in order to avoid them in the future.
Al-Hilal became Saudi Arabian champions for the third consecutive and eighteenth time in their history after a fierce competition with Al-Ittihad until the last breath of the last round of last season.
The Asian champion started four times, most recently last season, his campaign to defend the title with three consecutive wins, the latest against Al-Fateh, which saw the return of his international defender Yasser Al. -Shahrani, from a muscle injury.
Riyadh was hoping for the appearance of its midfielder Muhammad Kanno, suspended for four months from official matches by the decision of the Dispute Resolution Chamber, amid the signing of two contracts with Al-Hilal and Al-Nasr, while the recovery process continues. team Argentine coach Ramon Diaz, South Korean midfielder Jang Hyun-soo and international striker Saleh Al-Shehri.
As for Zamalek, the five-time African champion, he retained his title in the Egyptian league, crowning it for the 14th time in his history, overtaking the Pyramids and Al-Ahly.
The white team is counting on their international midfielder Ahmed Syed “Zizu”, whose contract was recently extended by three years, and veteran Mahmoud Abdel Razek “Xikabala”, as well as the leadership of Portuguese veteran Josevaldo Ferreira, as well as some new deals. , such as Moroccan Zakaria Al-Wardi and Senegalese Ibrahima Ndaye.
The match is presided over by Qatari referee Abdul Rahman Al Jassim, one of the Arab referees present at the 2022 World Cup, along with Algerian Mustafa Ghorbal and Emirati Mohammed Abdullah Hassan.
The festival will open with a concert by singer Amr Diab.
Lusail Stadium
Qatar officially opens the Lusail Stadium, the largest of the eight stadiums for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
On August 11, the test match of the second round of the Qatari League between Al Arabi and Al Rayyan took place at the stadium, which can accommodate eighty thousand spectators.
The matchup between Zamalek and Al-Hilal, preceded by a concert by Egyptian artist Amr Diab, will be a real rehearsal for the hosting of the World Cup, given the large fan base that characterizes the two teams, knowing that the Saudi fans will come first. launch the stadium during the World Cup when the Green Falcons face Argentinean Lionel Messi on 22 November.
Qatar will reopen the old Doha airport to relieve pressure on the main Hamad airport, which is undergoing expansion to increase its capacity to 58 million passengers a year. The huge stadium in the modern city also hosts Brazil-Serbia, Argentina-Mexico, Portugal-Uruguay, Saudi Arabia-Mexico and Cameroon-Brazil group stage matches, as well as the round of 16 match, quarter-final. final, semi-final and final to be the most hosted with Ten games.
64 World Cup matches will be played in eight stadiums, seven of which are new: Lusail, Al-Beit, Ahmed Bin Ali, 974, Al-Tumama, Al-Janoub and Action City , in addition to the development of the Khalifa International Stadium. and I have tested them in various tournaments such as the FIFA Club World Cup.
