Nobody would have guessed that the rivalry between football players from one of the top teams on the old continent who shared a changing room would be one of the main draws in Saudi Arabian football. This occurred between Jordan Henderson and Sadio Mané, two players who, having experienced amazing times with Liverpool, found themselves pitted against each other in the King’s Cup match by fate.
The camaraderie between these two athletes is still strong off the pitch, but as soon as they took the pitch, Henderson and Mané set aside their friendship to focus on trying to defeat their opponent and move on to the quarterfinals of this competition, in which Al-Hilal is the clear favourite to win.
Al-Nassr and Al-Ettifaq’s 90 minutes of regular time duel was extremely evenly matched, but a winner was inevitable. Mané took advantage of one of the few opportunities throughout the game to score the goal that advanced Al-Nassr to the next round. However, the Senegalese striker missed out on a close friend and former teammate on Merseyside, who wanted to continue pursuing a career that fell apart after he left Anfield in 2022.
Mane and Henderson will not just cross paths on the field on this occasion; on December 22, Al-Ettifaq will host Al-Nassr in the Saudi Pro League’s 18th game of 34.
Henderson has competition in Saudi Arabia from a different acquaintance.
Although Henderson has already lost to Sadio Mane in this cup match, Fabinho Tavarez, a midfielder who was Jordan’s cup partner at Liverpool a few months ago, could now defeat Henderson. Al Ittihad is fighting alongside Al Ettifaq for those top-flight positions.
