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Xabi Alonso had said in the buildup that he was going to “ignite” his players at this Club World Cup, that Real Madrid were ready to rock’n’roll. In the event this was something a little more ragged and downbeat, pub-rock, at times even a meandering shoe-gaze in Miami as a feisty and well-drilled Al-Hilal kept the new-era Madrid at arm’s length in a Group H opener that ended in a 1-1 draw, flickered but never caught fire, and saw Federico Valverde miss an 92nd-minute penalty to win it.
Madrid announced before the game that they had sold 60,000 tickets for this game at a 65,000 capacity stadium, which seems a little hard on Al-Hilal, who are owned by the Saudi government and as a result are basically paying for the whole show. As expected the Hard Rock was a sun-dappled sea of white at kick-off, Madrid the greatest portable source of eyeball-power at this made-for-TV show.
And this was another strange event at the mothership of all strange events. Most obviously the game kicked off at 3pm local time in mid-June, a time of day when crossing the road here is likely to induce a state of full-body sock-soaking hydration, and trying to run is like hurling yourself head first into the sun.
In other staging news, Fifa revived its No To Racism messaging, running a short video to that effect before kick-off. There was a clear response here to criticism of kowtowing to the nearest authoritarian politician, with the watering down of that message to Football Unites The World, which has the added drawback of being demonstrably incorrect.
Alonso had said in the buildup that Madrid needed “closure with the past”. Well, good luck with that. But he picked a fresh-looking team here, with the rebranded Trent making his debut, just across from fellow newbie Dean Huijsen, and 21-year-old Gonzalo García at the point of the attack. Kylian Mbappé was absent with a fever, possibly even the strain of football fever Gianni Infantino has claimed is currently sweeping the US, albeit in asymptomatic form judging by the world beyond the stadiums.
It was a little jarring to see the on-field banners at the Hard Rock, Real Madrid’s badge enchained within the golden links of the Club World Cup logo. And fascinating also to see Alexander-Arnold for the first time in match-day kit, a familiarly shambling, bandy-legged figure, starting at right-back in a regulation 4-3-3 at kick-off.
But it was Al-Hilal who almost opened the scoring with two minutes gone, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic drawing a save from Thibaut Courtois with a fierce drive. And with 13 minutes gone Marcos Leonardo really should have opened the scoring for Al-Hilal, deflecting a mis-hit shot just wide after João Cancelo had made ground on the right.
Vinícius Júnior was booked for the crime of evading a potential Kalidou Koulibaly shin-raker. Alexander-Arnold gave the ball away a few times, most notably in the leadup to a break that ended with the ball in the net, only to be rescued by the offside flag. Alonso had spoken a lot about the need for Jude Bellingham to be “in the right position”, mentioning this three times in the space of 30 seconds in his pre-match conference, although at times in the opening half hour Madrid had little to offer here apart from his roving note of menace.
But they scored almost immediately after the hydration break. It came from a break the length of the pitch, started by Alexander-Arnold winning a challenge. The ball was shuttled through midfield via Vinícius to Rodrygo on the right. His cross was perfectly curled into the path of García. The finish was a little fumbled, bobbling off one foot on to the other, the end result a dink over the goalkeeper. So the age of Alonso had its first goal.
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And it conceded its first with 40 minutes gone after Raul Asencio had given away a needless penalty, wrapping an arm around Leonardo as he veered away inside the box. Rúben Neves buried the kick to make it 1-1. Al-Hilal might have had a second, Salem al-Dawsari shooting just wide after a neat combination, drifting in from the Madrid right.
Arda Guler came on for Asencio at half-time, as Madrid stuck with the flat four, Aurélien Tchouaméni dropping into the backline. And Guler hit the bar almost immediately after a long, fading Alexander-Arnold pass had put Vinícius in space, before Garcia drew a goalline reflex save from Yassine Bounou as Al-Hilal lived, briefly, on the edge.
Bellingham showed some drive and trickery on the right. He wandered to the left. He gestured at his teammates. Is this free radical role going to remain part of the Alonso blueprint? Madrid began to dominate possession in the Al-Hilal half, playing in the merciful shade of the Hard Rock’s vast square wedding cake roof.
Alexander-Arnold came off with 65 minutes gone of a so-so, occasionally promising debut, replaced by Lucas Vázquez. The game drifted into hydration breaks and low-throttle lulls in temperatures that never strayed below a brutally humid 90 degrees. Al-Hilal might have taken the lead after Vázquez gave the ball away, but Leonardo clumped his finish over the bar with pond-wader finesse. The crowd fanned itself and sat in a very Madrid kind of semi-hush, awaiting their moment.
Vinícius was subbed off to a disappointed groan from Merengues diaspora. Luka Modric came on to the largest roar of the half to that point. At the death it seemed Madrid might produce a classic late assertion of their Darwinian right to win as they were awarded a soft VAR-reviewed penalty, but Valverde’s kick was saved.
