Apr 28, 2025, 12:45 PM
JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia — Al Hilal coach Jorge Jesus is confident João Cancelo will be fit for the FIFA Club World Cup after a hamstring injury ruled the Portuguese defender out for the rest of the AFC Champions League Elite Finals and Saudi Pro League season.
Limping off just before halftime, Cancelo’s injury was the lone blemish on Al Hilal’s thumping 7-0 win over South Korean side Gwangju FC in their ACLE quarterfinal on Friday, the 30-year-old having only just returned from a two-month layoff with a separate hamstring issue.
That earlier injury forced the former Manchester City star to miss Portugal‘s UEFA Nations League quarterfinal tie with Denmark in March, and this new issue casts a cloud on his ability to feature in Roberto Martínez’s squad for their upcoming semifinal against Germany on June 4.
But while disappointed to lose him ahead of an ACLE semifinal meeting with fellow Saudi Arabian powers Al Ahli on Tuesday evening, his club coach is confident that he will have Cancelo available for Al Hilal’s Club World Cup campaign, which will begin against Real Madrid in Miami on June 18.
“The only negative part [of the win over Gwangju] was the injury to João Cancelo,” Jesus said through a interpreter.
“We lost a player who is very important to the team.
“We will not have him; he will be out of matches for between four to six weeks.
“So his season is going to be over, but he will be well prepared for the Club World Cup.”
The most successful side in the ACLE’s history, previously becoming kings of Asia on four occasions — most recently in 2021 — Al Hilal will be seeking to qualify for a 10th continental final when they meet Al Ahli at the King Abdullah Sport City Stadium.
A very familiar opponent, Matthias Jaissle’s Al Ahli are seeking their first Asian crown but will be able to take confidence from the last meeting, where a hat-trick from England striker Ivan Toney lifted them to a 3-2 win back in late February.
“That helps, definitely, to know and to feel that we are capable of beating Al Hilal,” Jaissle said.
“The results over the last two seasons have always been tough and close matches where the details are deciding.
‘[Al Hilal] is a club with a lot of quality, a really professional infrastructure. So, of course, we need to be at our best level.”
Made possible by the Asian Football Confederation doing away with the previous East-West segretation until the decider, three Saudi Arabian sides have reached the final four in this year’s ACLE — and received a further boost in their home country being tapped to serve as host for the new, regionalised staging of the quarterfinals through to the final.
On Wednesday, Cristiano Ronaldo‘s Al Nassr will face J1 League outfit Kawasaki Frontale, who ensured that East Asia would remain represented in the competition on Sunday when Yasuto Wakizaka fired them to a 3-2 extra-time win over Qatari champions Al Saad.
“I think it proves that Saudi football is at a high level,” Jesus said of the Saudi trio.
“If we have this number of Saudi teams in the semifinals, it’s evidence that Saudi football is advancing more and more.
“This is proof on the ground that we have a very good level.”
Joey Lynch is in Jeddah reporting on the AFC Champions League Elite Finals as a guest of the Asian Football Confederation.
