https://www.scmp.com/rss/522879/feed The latest news and top stories on Karim Benzema, who captains Saudi Pro League club Al-Ittihad. He is renowned for a 14-year tenure at Real Madrid, becoming their second-highest goalscorer and winning 25 titles including five Champions Leagues. A 2022 Ballon d’Or and UEFA Player of the Year recipient, Benzema is celebrated for his prolific goalscoring, exceptional playmaking, technical skill, vision and versatility. en https://assets.i-scmp.com/static/img/icons/scmp-meta-1200x630.png https://www.scmp.com Reuters Reuters Saudi Pro League (SPL) champions Al-Ittihad will look to push their domestic difficulties and the exodus of key players to one side to assert themselves in the Asian Champion League Elite when Sergio Conceicao’s team take on Qatar’s Al-Gharafa on Tuesday. The Jeddah-based outfit have been less than convincing since claiming the SPL title last season, sitting in seventh in the domestic standings and currently attempting to regroup after the departures of Karim Benzema and N'Golo Kanté. The... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3342818/pressure-builds-saudi-champs-al-ittihad-hunt-asian-champions-league-spots-resumes?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3342818/pressure-builds-saudi-champs-al-ittihad-hunt-asian-champions-league-spots-resumes?utm_source=rss_feed Mon, 09 Feb 2026 01:00:35 +0000 Associated Press Associated Press Former English Premier League stars could make the difference in the Asian Champions League, which begins on Monday, with Ivan Toney, Jesse Lingard, Riyad Mahrez and Darwin Nunez all having a chance of winning Asian football’s premier club tournament. Saudi clubs dominated last season, providing three of the semi-finalists before Al-Ahli won the final in front of 60,000 spectators in Jeddah in May. Al-Ittihad and Al-Hilal are also back and expected to challenge again for the title. Since the... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3325379/asian-champions-league-ex-english-premier-league-players-set-star-new-season-starts?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3325379/asian-champions-league-ex-english-premier-league-players-set-star-new-season-starts?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 12 Sep 2025 13:00:20 +0000 Lars Hamer Lars Hamer For football fans who travelled from the Middle East to watch this week’s Saudi Super Cup in Hong Kong, it was about much more than star individuals such as Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. Whereas most of the Chinese spectators the Post spoke to were attending purely to see Al-Nassr captain Ronaldo, and to a lesser extent Al-Ittihad skipper Benzema, the Saudi fans saw it as an opportunity to support their teams at a competitive tournament. All four clubs attracted fan groups to the city... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3322927/riyadh-hong-kong-saudi-super-cup-fans-make-presence-felt?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3322927/riyadh-hong-kong-saudi-super-cup-fans-make-presence-felt?utm_source=rss_feed Sat, 23 Aug 2025 11:30:58 +0000 Lars Hamer Lars Hamer Thousands of football fans descended on Hong Kong Stadium hours before Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr took on Al-Ittihad in the first semi-final of the Saudi Super Cup on Tuesday. All roads leading to the stadium were a sea of jerseys sporting Ronaldo’s name on the back, as thousands from Hong Kong, Macau, mainland China and Saudi Arabia made their way to the ground. There was even one spectator wearing a shirt that combined Al-Nassr, Real Madrid and Manchester United colours and badges, all teams... https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3322401/saudi-super-cup-ronaldo-fever-strikes-again-fans-flock-stadium-hours-kick?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/china/article/3322401/saudi-super-cup-ronaldo-fever-strikes-again-fans-flock-stadium-hours-kick?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Aug 2025 11:39:09 +0000 SCMP Sport SCMP Sport Hong Kong is this week playing host to the Saudi Super Cup, which is why Cristiano Ronaldo is in town. The tournament has been running annually since 2013 but this is the third edition of its four-team format. It brings together the winners and runners-up from the Saudi Pro League and the country’s King's Cup in a mini-tournament, comprising two semi-finals and a final at Hong Kong Stadium. Hong Kong is its third overseas host city after London – three times – and Abu Dhabi. Al-Nassr will play... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3322374/saudi-super-cup-cristiano-ronaldos-hong-kong-who-else-coming?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3322374/saudi-super-cup-cristiano-ronaldos-hong-kong-who-else-coming?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Aug 2025 08:47:58 +0000 Paul McNamara Paul McNamara New Al-Nassr coach Jorge Jesus has said on the eve of the Saudi Super Cup in Hong Kong that the opportunity to manage Cristiano Ronaldo was a “big incentive” to accept a new challenge at 71. Al-Nassr are the 16th club of Jesus’ cosmopolitan career, after he was tasked with masterminding overdue Saudi success for superstar Ronaldo. The forward, who has plundered 93 goals in 105 Al-Nassr appearances, is in Hong Kong chasing only his second piece of silverware in 2½ years with the Riyadh side,... https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/3322272/ronaldo-hong-kong-new-al-nassr-boss-says-coaching-cr7-was-incentive-join?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/hong-kong/article/3322272/ronaldo-hong-kong-new-al-nassr-boss-says-coaching-cr7-was-incentive-join?utm_source=rss_feed Tue, 19 Aug 2025 00:30:07 +0000 Mike Chan,Paul McNamara,Lars Hamer Mike Chan,Paul McNamara,Lars Hamer Al-Ahli, the last of the Saudi Super Cup teams landed in Hong Kong on Sunday and will stay at the Grand Hyatt Hotel in Wan Chai, where they were greeted by over 50 fans. The fans, mostly men between the ages of 20 and 40, had come to catch a glimpse of former Premier League footballers Riyad Mahrez, Ivan Toney and Edouard Mendy. John Kulpakdeesinghworn, 41, travelled to Hong Kong from Thailand to see former Leicester City winger Mahrez. The country has a strong Leicester following, as the club... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3322117/cristiano-ronaldo-al-nassr-head-early-sunday-training-session?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3322117/cristiano-ronaldo-al-nassr-head-early-sunday-training-session?utm_source=rss_feed Sun, 17 Aug 2025 04:06:54 +0000 Raymond Ma,Neil Denslow Raymond Ma,Neil Denslow China’s retail sales growth unexpectedly cooled in July, leading a bevy of data releases on Friday that signalled weak domestic consumption, diminishing returns from government stimulus efforts and challenges from the US trade war. Retail expansion slowed to 3.7 per cent from 4.8 per cent in June, missing the 4.9 per cent forecast among economists polled by financial data provider Wind. Industrial output growth cooled to 5.7 per cent, the slowest since November. Fixed asset investment also eased... https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3321948/china-retail-slowdown-trump-putin-summit-wang-yi-visits-india?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/plus/article/3321948/china-retail-slowdown-trump-putin-summit-wang-yi-visits-india?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Aug 2025 09:00:09 +0000 Tom Bell,Lars Hamer,Mike Chan,Andrew Cesare Richardson,Paul McNamara Tom Bell,Lars Hamer,Mike Chan,Andrew Cesare Richardson,Paul McNamara Two further Saudi Super Cup teams arrived in Hong Kong on Friday, while Cristiano Ronaldo carried a Labubu doll and welcomed a new teammate, as the city stepped up preparations to stage the competition next week. Ronaldo and his fellow Al-Nassr players sparked excitement for a second successive day when they emerged from the Regent Hong Kong hotel in Tsim Sha Tsui on Friday morning. Having been ushered quickly inside on arrival the previous day, the Portugal captain this time stopped to sign... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3321954/saudi-super-cup-hong-kong-ronaldo-trains-rain-2-more-teams-arrive?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3321954/saudi-super-cup-hong-kong-ronaldo-trains-rain-2-more-teams-arrive?utm_source=rss_feed Fri, 15 Aug 2025 05:41:59 +0000 Josh Ball Josh Ball Hosting the Saudi Super Cup in Hong Kong denoted a “strengthening of the ties” with the desert kingdom, and reflected the city’s growing status as a world-class sporting hub, local football chief Eric Fok Kai-shan said on Wednesday. Speaking at the official launch of next month’s tournament – which, with Kai Tak Stadium unavailable, will be held at Hong Kong Stadium – Fok called it an “opportunity to showcase our city’s energy, hospitality and passion for football”. It will mark the first time... https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3317589/hong-kong-hosting-saudi-super-cup-shows-deepening-ties-football-chief-fok-says?utm_source=rss_feed https://www.scmp.com/sport/football/article/3317589/hong-kong-hosting-saudi-super-cup-shows-deepening-ties-football-chief-fok-says?utm_source=rss_feed Wed, 09 Jul 2025 13:33:44 +0000