Two-time AFC Champions League winner Saud Kariri and his team Al Hilal are looking to create history at the King Fahd International Stadium, Riyadh, in Saturday's second leg of the AFC Champions League (ACL) final against Western Sydney Wanderers.
Should the Saudi Premier League runners-up overturn Wanderers' 1-0 lead from the first leg in Sydney on Oct. 25, Kariri will become the first player to win the ACL on three occasions. The midfielder, who joined Al Hilal in December last year, was part of the Al Ittihad team which won back-to-back continental titles in 2004 and 2005. Kariri was also in the Al Ittihad side which lost the 2009 final to Korea Republic's Pohang Steelers.
Kariri's current club would join Pohang as the only three-time Asian champions should they be able to overturn the deficit from the first leg. The Saudi Premier League runners-up of 2013-14 won the Asian Club Championship in 1991 and 2000.
"This is my fourth final as I have already won two and lost one. For my own ambition, it would be a dream to win this cup again. And also for the club, they have been waiting a long time," Kariri told World Sports Group. "Both my ambition and that of the club give us the confidence and the desire to work towards this target. It was a difficult away game playing in front of their supporters. But if they were not at this level, they would not have qualified for the final.
"And the next game [the second leg] will also be difficult, but we will make sure it goes our way."
Kariri's confidence is not unjustified -- Al Hilal have won their last five outings at the King Fahd International Stadium without conceding a goal and scoring 13.
There is also no shortage of Champions League experience in the Al Hilal team. Kwak Tae-Hwi was captain of Ulsan Hyundai during the K-League club's 2012 success. Winger Mohammed Al Shalhoub is the only player in the current squad who was part of the club's 2000 title win.
Striker Nassir Al Shamrani as well as Brazilians Rodrigo Digao and Thiago Neves are the other experienced players in the squad.
"I will use all my years of experience for this game," said Kariri, who has captained his club in the tournament this season with veteran striker Yasser Al Qahtani no longer a first-team regular under Romanian coach Laurentiu Reghecampf.
"There are lot of experienced players in this team like Digao, Kwak, Nassir and Thiago. Only a few players don't have the experience playing in such high-pressure games."
The winners of the 2014 ACL crown will seal a spot in December's Fifa Club World Cup in Morocco.