There's a lot more to it than money, but there's also something about the name Al-Hilal - Asia's biggest club has once again made history, having already been written off by knocking out one of the most powerful European teams in the last ten years.
The Saudi Arabian team, four-time Asian champions, defeated Manchester City (4:3) in a spectacular match in Orlando after extra time and advanced to the quarterfinals of the Club World Cup.
The decisive goal was scored by Brazilian Marcos Leonardo in the 112th minute when he "pushed" the ball into the net after a header by Sergej Milinković Savić. For a night to be remembered, for the first victory of an Asian team over a European team - only in the 21st match.
"We were great. All the players were exceptional in everything - both in possession and without the ball," was the enthusiastic Simone Inzaghi, whose hand is already visible in the game of the team from Riyadh.
Europe was waiting for its derby between Inter and City, and the world got a clash between Saudi Arabia and Brazil, as Al-Hilal and Fluminense will fight for a place among the four best teams on the planet.
After their worst season in the last decade, the English club still has a lot of work to do to be as powerful as before, although they created many great chances against Al-Hilal...
"It's a shame, we were in very good form in this championship. The players gave their all, but this time we didn't go any further," said Pep Guardiola, City coach.
The show in Florida started in the 9th minute when Bernardo Silva scored, and Al-Hilal turned the score around six minutes into the second half through Marcos Leonardo and a deadly counterattack by Malcom (2:1).
Just three minutes later, Erling Haaland equalized at 2-2, and it turned out he had already taken the match to extra time. City were attacking, wanting to settle things before extra time, but the Saudis' goal was brilliantly saved by the phenomenal Moroccan Bono, or Yassine Bounou as he is called.
Haaland had the chance of the game for the "citizens", but Ali Lajami saved the entire team with an unreal intervention from the goal line in the 84th minute.
Al-Hilal was the first to score in extra time, when a goal was scored by defender Khalid Koulibaly (3:2), before Ryan Sharkey and Phil Foden created a move to make it 3:3 - the first assisted, the second scored.
And then the 112th minute happened, which will be remembered in Riyadh - Milinković Savić's rebound and a goal by Marcos Leonard, who shortly before looked like someone who could not continue the game due to fatigue.
"We knew we had to do something extraordinary if we wanted to beat Manchester City - the boys did it, the boys were simply incredible. After all, you have to be extraordinary, because we all know what kind of team we played against. We had to climb Mount Everest without oxygen to win, and we did it," Inzaghi was vivid.
On the other hand, Guardiola was not dissatisfied - after a trophyless season at the tournament in the United States, he saw a lot of good things, after all, City had "run over" all rivals, including Juventus (5:2), by the knockout stage.
"It's time to rest, refresh our minds and come back next season. I saw a lot of good things here that I didn't before - especially in the relationship between the players and the coaching staff. I felt we were happy here, but the level is really high," Guardiola added.
On this side of the draw, only Chelsea remains among the European teams, who will play against Palmeiras in the quarterfinals, and the winner of that duel will face the winner of the Al-Hilal - Fluminense clash.
Bonus video:
