A preview of the changed dignity of Saudi football.

The Club World Cup, which determines the world's strongest clubs, has always been a battleground between Europe and South America.

The direction of the championship cup in the past 19 competitions (15 in Europe and 4 in South America) is evidence of this, with champions from other continents such as Africa, North and Central America, and Asia becoming the festivities.

However, the atmosphere of this competition, which opened in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia on the 12th, was a little different. Saudi Arabia's Al-Ittihad is attracting attention as it participated as the host country in the last Club World Cup held by FIFA with 7 teams.

The interest pouring into RIT Had can be interpreted as the power of 'oil money' that surprised Europe last summer. There are many big names who are also known in Europe, including Karim Benzema, who boasts the world's highest annual salary (200 million euros, approximately 284.6 billion won) along with Cristiano Ronaldo (Al Nasr), Fabinho, N'Golo Kante, and Jota. There are expectations that Al-Ittihad, which has already built the strongest power in Saudi Arabia, will do well in the Club World Cup this time.

Alitihad's power beyond the Asian level can be easily confirmed by numbers. According to 'Transfermarkt', a European soccer transfer website, the total value (transfer fee) of the RIT Had team is 114.43 million euros (about 162.8 billion won). Although it cannot be compared to European champion Manchester City (England, 1.26 billion euros), it surpasses South American champion Fluminense (Brazil, 107.6 million euros). Alitihad is sparing no investment, to the extent that the total annual salary of the players (173.93 million euros, approximately 247.3 billion won) is higher than the total ransom.

The effects of RIT Had’s investment were confirmed from the first edition. In the final stage for the host country, they defeated Oceania champion Auckland City (New Zealand) 3-0 in the playoffs on the 12th. After Romarinho scored the first goal in the 29th minute of the first half, Kante brought the win with an additional goal 5 minutes later. And Benzema scored a goal with his left foot in the 40th minute of the first half, putting an end to the early victory.

Benzema's goal on this day was the first to score in four consecutive Club World Cup competitions. He participated in this tournament three times (2014, 2016, and 2022) as a member of Real Madrid and scored a goal. It was a congratulatory signal that he, who won the Ballon d'Or, given to the world's best player, at the age of 34 last year, is taking on a new challenge in Saudi Arabia.

Al-Ittihad's next opponent is African champion Al-Ahli (Egypt). If Al-Ittihad wins against Al-Ahli on the 15th, it will tie the team's best performance in the semifinals in this tournament in 2005. Since they avoided European champion Manchester City in the semifinals on the 18th, when a ticket to the finals was at stake, they can also expect to advance to the finals for the first time.

It seems that the power gap between East and West Asia can be guessed based on the performance of the Asian champion Urawa Reds (Japan), located on the other side of the match. When the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) launched the Asian Champions League Elite (ACLE) next year, it changed the existing structure where East Asia and West Asia met in the finals to one where they face each other from the quarterfinals. This is a trend created by Saudi Arabia's unprecedented investment, and if Al-Ittihad performs well at the Club World Cup, tensions in East Asia are expected to increase further.

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