Al Hilal pay a princely sum to assure they can overcome Wanderers in AFC Champions league final
Saudi Arabian giants Al Hilal will bank on some fervent home support to overturn a 1-0 deficit against fledgling outfit Western Sydney Wanderers in the second-leg of the AFC Champions League (ACL) final on Saturady as they bid for a third title.
Such success is long overdue for a team that was voted Asia's club of the century in 2009 and whose attendances dwarf those of other teams in this year's competition.
Riyadh's finest, who enjoy the patronage of oil-moneyed royalty, have never won the rebranded ACL since its inception in 2002-03 and were sucker-punched in Australia by the Wanderers last week after dominating for long spells.
Playing in this game is like a dream. Now I will wait for the coach to play me and I will run until I die as I want to win this trophy
Bookies make Sydney favourites to seal the trophy for Australia for the first time and complete the fairy-tale victory on their debut campaign but the demands - and rewards - are mounting for Al Hilal coach Laurentiu Reghecampf and his squad.
Prince Alwaleed bin Talal bin Abdul Aziz al-Saud, a nephew of Saudi's King Abdullah and honorary Al Hilal board member, has offered each first-team player and staff member a bonus of 100,000 riyals (HK$206,700) should they become Asian champions.
The flamboyant prince has also paid for all tickets to the game, so Al Hilal fans can attend for free, ensuring a 67,000-capacity crowd at King Fahd stadium.
Such talk hints at overconfidence. Al Hilal may have been formidable in the ACL, going eight matches without conceding a goal to haul themselves from the bottom of their group to the showpiece final, but the team have since lost their last three matches.