Discovering Riyadh, the biggest city of the Arabian Peninsula, and the Al-Awwal Park Stadium

"Arabian nights, like Arabian dreams, this mystical land of magic and sand".

This is what Aladdin sang right before finding the magic lamp, the same one that Napoli, Lazio, Inter, and Fiorentina would like to run into to bring home the EA SPORTS FC Super Cup.

In reality, the four teams that will face off in Riyadh, the biggest city of the Arabian Peninsula at the heart of the desert, will need more than magic. Technical organisation and determination will be necessary for an Arabian dream.

The two semi-finals are Napoli vs. Fiorentina and Inter vs. Lazio that will take place on Thursday 18 and Friday 19 January at 20:00 CET. Then, the final is scheduled for Monday 22, again at 20:00 CET. All the games will be held at the Al-Awwal Park Stadium.

The ground is home to Cristiano Ronaldo’s Al-Nassr side, the most widely supported club in Saudi Arabia, was unveiled in 2015 and has a capacity of 25,000. It will be a nice déjà-vu for Lazio fans who won the Italian Super Cup with the 3-1 victory over Juventus in the very same stadium.

Between games, fans and professionals will be able to lose themselves in Al Murabba, a historic neighbourhood where you can find typical plazas and historic buildings including the Murabba Palace where King Abdulaziz reigned. Otherwise, they can shop on King Fahd Road that also houses the Kingdom Centre, voted the world’s best skyscraper for it’s design, which is open to the public for a breathtaking view of the city.

The metropolis currently has more than 7 million inhabitants and also offers up various museums, including the National Museum of Saudi Arabia that houses the largest exhibition in the country. The main attraction, however, is undoubtedly Fort Masmak, a clay and mud brick fort in the al-Dirah neighbourhood, which houses a museum that traces the history of Saudi Arabia.

Fans of both finalists will have a few extra days. They could go as far as Diriyah, the historical capital of the First Saudi State, a sit sits around 20 kilometres from Riyadh and is a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

No pasta or pizza: it won’t be optional to try a traditional dish based on rice and lamb, chicken, camel, or fish, called Kabsa and accompanied by Mutabbaq, bread stuffed with a mixture of meat, egg, peppers, garlic, onions, spices, and butter.

(Photo Getty Images) 

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