Al Hilal serial winner Jahfali eyes next success - versus former club | OneFootball

Mohammed Jahfali knows a thing or two about winning.

The 33-year-old Saudi international spent 10 trophy-laden seasons with the Al Hilal, the Roshn Saudi League’s most successful club. There he won six RSL titles, five King’s Cup triumphs, four Saudi Super Cups and two AFC Champions League titles.

Further, he has also lost only four of the past 78 RSL matches in which he has played dating back to the start of the 2018-19 season. Winning, almost literally, is all he knows.

But, despite being involved in a number of historic triumphs for Al Hilal across his 137 games in blue, the victory he registered last weekend at his new home, Al Kholood, is as significant as any that have come before, especially for the club. The narrow 1-0 win against Al Wehda, courtesy of Alex Collado’s stunning strike on the hour, represented Al Kholood’s first-ever in the RSL.

It was a momentous occasion for all involved, including Jahfali, who came on as a late substitute to replace the goalscorer, as Al Kholood looked to shore up their defence and secure all three points. Not only was it their first win, it was their first clean sheet in the top flight as well, a fact that wouldn’t have been missed on Jahfali or the rest of the team.

Participating in the RSL for the first time in their history, Al Kholood started the season with two defeats, followed by their opening point after a 3-3 draw with fellow promoted side Al Orobah.

Two defeats and a draw from the first three hardly jumps off the page, but it does not tell the full story. Paulo Duarte’s side were agonisingly close to a stunning debut against Al Ittihad in Matchweek 1, only for Houssem Aouar’s 94th-minute goal to deny them a point at the first time of asking on the big stage.

However, having tasted and celebrated their first success of the season, Al Kholood face what’s proving the toughest task in the competition this weekend when they host an Al Hilal side that hasn’t tasted defeat in the RSL since May 2023. That incredible unbeaten streak currently stands at 40.

It is a period of domination unprecedented in RSL history, and one that Jahfali himself was a valuable contributor to. It’ll be a unique experience for the central defender on Saturday, coming up against the team where he spent the past 10 seasons and created memories and friendships to last a lifetime. But, when the whistle goes at King Abdullah Sports City in Qassim, there is no room for sentiment.

Jahfali, more than anyone having been inside Al Hilal’s four walls just a matter of months ago, will know the monumental challenge facing the newcomers in Buraidah, but in playing his part in Al Hilal’s history-making achievements, he would presumably take great pride in being a member of the team who halts them.

So, where there is life there is hope, and having almost taken a point from Al Ittihad to begin the season, and with the confidence extracted from securing their inaugural RSL win, Jahfali and his teammates have nothing to lose when the might of Aleksandar Mitrovic, Ruben Neves, Sergej Milinkovic-Savic and Salem Al Dawsari come to town.

And Kholood have the tools to register an upset. In former Barcelona winger Collado, who has three goals in his past three games, the Ar Rass outfit possess the spark needed to spring a surprise, while defensively in William Troost-Ekong, Norbert Gyomber and Jahfali himself, and former RSL Goalkeeper of the Year Marcelo Grohe behind them, they boast the resoluteness to frustrate any opponent - as Al Ittihad can attest.

In a career filled and defined by winning, Jahfali’s most stunning victory may be yet to come.