Al-Hilal’s record winning streak does not make them hall of famers | Football News
Whatever the future of the Saudi Pro League be, Al-Hilal has achieved a slice of hory. When they beat Al-Ittihad last week, they grabbed the record for the longest winning streak in the game’s record books. The record would be widely contested and criticized, but it was just the sort of positive publicity the league needed at a time when it was slipping out of football consciousness after the million-dollar storm it had whipped up since the acquisition of Criano Ronaldo last year and the subsequent exodus of Europe’s elite players.
Winning 28 games on the spin is a monumental feat anywhere in the world. But it comes with caveats, as records often tend to. Broadly speaking, there are two factors to weigh in. A) Is it truly the record? There of course would be claimants. For instance, FK Akradag, a club founded former president of Turkmenan Gurbanguly Berdymukhamedov, who himself designed the logo, last year went on a 33-game winning streak. In fact, they have won every game they have played. But the obscurity of the league, the uncertainty of its quality and the doubts over its integrity, as the ruler of the country is Berdymukhamedov’s son Serdar, were enough for the Guinness Book of Records (it’s not FIFA that approves the records) to cast aspersions on the nature and level of competitions.
In the post World War Two Era, Hungarian club Ujpest reportedly won 30 games in a row, but information of games in that era is sketchy.
Diligent recording of data in football began late, a reason several records are subject to debates. For instance, Pele’s goal tally of 1,279 strikes in 1,363 games, was fervently disputed, as many of the goals had arrived in celebratory games after retirement. He played 550 unofficial games, some of them against U-23 national teams (among them Saudi’s too), combined squads, regional teams and even in some military events while he served in the Brazilian army. In total, it’s believed that more than 500 of Pelé’s goals came in unofficial matches. “Who did you score them against?” Maradona once asked in an interview with Pele in a television program years ago. “Your nephews in the backyard?”
The second caveat dribbles in. Is the number really glittering, given the standard of the league?
Ajax’s run
The previous record, after all, was held a little-known club on the Wales-England border The New Saints of Oswestry Town & Llansantffraid Football Club. They had beaten the record of surpassing Ajax’s 26 consecutive wins in the early 1970s when Johan Cruyff was their figurehead. In terms of quality and competitiveness of the league, Ajax’s achievement is considered the benchmark. And for the number to add glitter, the feat has to be achieved in the top five leagues of Europe. It would be an inhuman feat considering the ultra- cut-throatiness of the leagues. The closest any team has come to matching Ajax is Ajax itself, in 1994-95, the sparkling batch of Clarence Seedorf, Edgar Davids, Edwin van der Sar and Marc Overmars, an imperious batch won both the league and Champions League, dethroning AC Milan. Bayern Munich, Real Madrid and Manchester City all came close in recent years, but fell short, demonstrating the difficulty of sustaining a winning streak in Europe.
Not that what Al Hilal achieved is trivial but it lacks the grandeur of the Ajax sides. It becomes a mere statical embellishment, and not a sign of greatness. There are similar numbers and accomplishments that remain as mere figures. The name Erwin Helmchen might not ring a bell. But the German, who played in the 1930s, is the highest goal-scorer ever in league football. According to RSSSF statics, the most authoritative stats engine for football records, he has scored 947 goals. But he is not talked about as one of the greatest-ever strikers, because the era he lived and played the game was different. Between Peter Shilton and Criano Ronaldo in the l of most appearances for clubs are Brazil’s Fabio (1311) and England’s Paul Bastock (1286), both goalkeepers aged 43 and 53 still plying in the lower leagues of their country. Neither strike a chord.
Every record and number thus needs contextualising. What can be gathered from Al-Hilal’s streak is that they enjoy a durbing monopoly. Since its inception in 1974, they have been crowned champions 18 times, a 19th is on the way, as the sit 12 points adrift of Al Nassr, the club of Criano Ronaldo fame, have been Asian champions four times, a record. They have won five of the past seven titles, and seem destined to bag their sixth in eight seasons. They are Saudi’s best ever. No doubt. But the record doesn’t make them hall of famers.
Teams around them can learn. This season, they were the merriest spenders—shelling out 376.10 million pounds, 90 million spent on Neymar alone — but they were also the sharpest ones because they invested on players who have not yet slipped into their autumn. Neymar (who missed most of the season) is just 32, Milinkovic-Savic 29, Neves and Malcolm 27. All of them were aggressively chased the giants of Europe, but could not match the Saudi giants in spending powers. They have played with clarity and intensity. They have set the standards, but unless the clubs around lift themselves, the impressive numbers they have been racking would remain of mere academic use. A trivia at best.
