with a great team as a wonderful thing, which is why I agreed to work with him, I was with the team eight months after we arrived at the beginning of the season, and I knew all about the players.” and continued, “I was young at the time, and maybe I was crazy by playing with five strikers, I told everyone before the match that we would win, I always knew we would win, but I didn’t know if the difference would be enough.” Al-Ittihad achieved its first Arab championship, after defeating Tunisian Club Sportif Sfaxien in the final. On 5 November 2005, Al-Ittihad won the Champions League for the second time in a row, after a 5–3 victory over Al-Ain. Mohammed Kallon, which loaned from AS Monaco, became the top scorer of the tournament with six goals; of which two were in the final—which helped to achieve the second title. Mohammed Noor, was awarded the best player in the tournament. The club remaining as the only to win back-to-back AFC Champions League titles in its current edition. The club qualified for the FIFA Club World Cup for the first time, in the edition that was held in Japan, after achieving the Champions League title—as it became the second Saudi team to qualify for the tournament. On December 11, 2005, Al-Ittihad defeated African champions Al-Ahly after Mohamed Noor’s only goal, to qualify for the semi-finals. Al-Ittihad faced the CONMEBOL champion São Paulo, and it was ended by a 2–3 loss. Al-Ittihad played the match to determine the third place against the Costa Rican club Deportivo Saprissa and lost with a 2–3, were two goals scored by Mohamed Kallon and Joseph-Désiré Job—to end the Club World Cup in the 4th place. Former FIFA President Sepp Blatter expressed his admiration, saying, “In 25 years, I have not seen an Asian team this great.” Ittihad's success is not limited only to football, but also in basketball, water polo, table tennis, volleyball, and swimming, amongst others. In total, Ittihad has won 8,649 trophies. However, football remains the primary sport. Rivalries Jeddah Derby The Jeddah derby between Al-Ittihad and Al-Ahli is known to be one of the most competitive games in the Saudi League. From the start of national competitions both clubs were seen as representatives of two rivals from the same city: Jeddah. This rivalry continued annually for more than 70 years, until Al-Ahli