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Ivan Toney takes brutal dig at Saudi authorities over ‘crazy’ Al-Ahli treatment before Cristiano Ronaldo vs Al-Nassr
In the Super Cup final, Ivan Toney and Cristiano Ronaldo, top scorers in the Saudi Pro League, clash after Toney's criticism of preparation conditions.
Ivan Toney and Cristiano Ronaldo square off in the Super Cup final after finishing the previous season as the top two goal scorers in the Saudi Pro League. Although Toney scored 23 goals compared to Ronaldo's 25, the former Bees star also assisted Al-Ahli in winning the AFC Champions League Elite trophy.
Speaking about the preparation, Toney took a swipe at Saudi authorities, saying that “To be honest, the preparation and how we've been treated is crazy.”
“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,” he added.
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Al Ahli vs Al Nassr: How the two team reached Super Cup final?
In their semi-final last Wednesday, Al Ahli defeated Al Qadisiyah 5-1, demonstrating their strength, as Toney asserted.
The England international scored from the penalty spot in the 28th minute.
After Sadio Mane was sent off halfway through the first half, they were reduced to ten men for 65 minutes, but their victory guaranteed them a berth in the final against Ronaldo's Al Nassr, who defeated Al Ittihad 2-1.
Here's Ivan Toney said before the final match
Mohamed Simakan, the French center-back for Al-Nassr, was sent off for elbowing Toney during a 3-2 victory for Al-Nassr in February. Toney, who struck 30 goals last season after signing from Brentford for about US$56 million, also received a warning for Simakan.
The seven-cap international center-forward also promised that Al-Ahli would not be sidetracked by the predicted roar of support for Ronaldo and Al-Nassr at Hong Kong Stadium.
During the press conference, Al-Ahli head coach Matthias Jaissle agreed with his player's assessment of the organizational risks Al-Ahli had faced in Hong Kong, stating that "we like to have challenges across the world."
Before taking aim at certain segments of the Saudi media, Jaissle declared, “We've dealt with it well in the past, and that's our approach for tomorrow.”
