"Real Madrid faced a team with character"

Al Hilal coach Simone Inzaghi said on Wednesday that he has great appreciation for Real Madrid coach Xabi Alonso as a “person and a coach”, but stressed that his team played a game of “character” and considered the 1-1 draw in the FIFA Club World Cup opener to be well deserved.

"You can see the concepts that Xabi Alonso wants to bring, I appreciate him as a person and a coach. It's a Madrid team that tries to play, but Madrid came up against a team that played with character," Inzaghi said at the post-match press conference.

Madrid took the lead with a goal from their youth product Gonzalo Garcia, but conceded the equaliser from Ruben Neves from the penalty spot. Goalkeeper Yassine Bono saved a late penalty from Fede Valverde in the 90'.

"I knew Bono, it's not a surprise. He had excellent seasons and beyond the penalty, he helped us a lot," he said.

He also praised the character of his players, including a Sergej Milinkovic-Savic with whom he was reunited after his time at Lazio. "It was a good game, my team was very good, an excellent game, organized, we played as a team, together, and we played Madrid, who are one of the three best teams in the world. I couldn't ask for more," he said.