Ivan Toney blasts ‘crazy treatment’ of Al-Ahli for Saudi Super Cup in Hong Kong
England striker unhappy with training pitches and times ahead of Saturday's final against Al-Nassr, says team are ‘most hated’ in tournament
Ivan Toney has blasted the “crazy treatment” of his Al-Ahli team at the Saudi Super Cup in Hong Kong.
England striker Toney was on the scoresheet when Al-Ahli thumped Al-Qadsiah 5-1 on Wednesday to book a Saturday night final date with Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr.
Late replacements for Al-Hilal, who withdrew from the competition following their involvement in the summer Club World Cup, Al-Ahli arrived in Hong Kong on Sunday.
“To be honest, the preparation and how we’ve been treated has been crazy,” Toney said. “We’ve been on the worst pitch, and trained after other teams. We’ve been the most hated, the team nobody wants to win; it gives us that extra hunger and fight to win something against these teams.
“You saw in the semi-final: we had no remorse, we wanted to score more and more, and we did.”
Toney would have been further affronted when Al-Ahli were handed an 8pm training slot in Kowloon Tong on Friday. Al-Nassr practised at the same Joint Sports Centre facility from 5.30pm.