Salem Al Dawsari scored two penalties as Al Hilal beat Flamengo 3-2 on Tuesday to become the first Saudi Arabian club to reach the Fifa Club World Cup final. Waiting for the Saudi side in Saturday's final in Morocco will be either <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/sport/football/2023/02/08/al-ahly-must-find-way-to-curb-real-madrids-vinicius-junior-in-club-world-cup-semi-final/" target="_blank">European champions Real Madrid or Egyptian side Al Ahly</a>, who meet in the second semi-final on Wednesday. Al Dawsari, <a href="https://www.thenationalnews.com/fifa-world-cup-2022/2022/11/22/al-dawsari-saudi-arabia-beat-argentina-stunner/" target="_blank">who scored the winning goal against Argentina as Saudi Arabia pulled off one of the biggest shocks in World Cup history at last year's World Cup</a>, converted his first spot-kick on four minutes after Luciano Vietto was felled by Flamengo's Matheuzinho. It earned Al Dawsari his own slice of Club World Cup history as he became the first player to score against the same opponents in two editions of the tournament after also netting against the Brazilians in 2019. The teams were level a quarter-of-an-hour later as Flamengo striker Pedro side-footed his effort first time past Al Hilal goalkeeper Abdullah Al Muaiouf. Al Dawsari's second penalty came nine minutes into first-half injury time after Vietto was tripped by former Marseille midfielder Gerson. Gerson was sent off for a second yellow card, having received his first on 15 minutes for diving in the Al Hilal penalty area. With 20 minutes remaining, Al Hilal moved closer to the final when Argentine Vietto fired in off the crossbar after Al Dawsari's clipped pass. After 20 seconds of the six minutes of additional time, Pedro cut the deficit with an easy tap-in but it was not enough to spark a late comeback from the Copa Libertadores champions.
