JEDDAH, Saudi Arabia (AP) — Al-Ahli won its first AFC Champions League Elite title after beating Kawasaki Frontale of Japan 2-0 in the final on Saturday.
The star-studded Jeddah team, playing at home in front of 60,000 fans at King Abdullah Sports City Stadium, deserved what was a comfortable victory and completed an unbeaten tournament.
Click to Gallery
Al Ahli players celebrate with the trophy at the end of the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Kawasaki Flontale's Sai Van Wermeskerken gestures at the end of the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli's Roberto Firmino holds up the trophy as celebrate with his teammates at the end of the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli players celebrate with the trophy at the end of the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Kawasaki Flontale fans cheer prior to the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli's Ivan Toney, left, attempts a shot at goal in front of Kawasaki Flontale's Kota Takai during to the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli's Roberto Firmino runs with the ball during to the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli's Wenderson Galeno celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during to the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli's Wenderson Galeno, left, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal as Kawasaki Flontale's goalkeeper Louis Takaji Yamaguchi reacts after he fails to save the ball during to the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
First-half goals from Galeno and Franck Kessie put the two-time beaten finalist in control against the five-time Japanese champion.
The tournament quarterfinals, semifinals and final were staged in Jeddah and Al-Ahli rode a wave of support.
The hosts were on top early and made the breakthrough after 35 minutes. Roberto Firmino fed Galeno outside the area and the Brazilian winger, signed from Porto in January for around $55 million, sent a curling shot into the top corner.
Three minutes before the break, Firmino crossed from the right for Kessie, and the former AC Milan and Barcelona midfielder headed home from close range. Firmino won the tournament’s Most Valuable Player award.
Kawasaki, which knocked out Cristiano Ronaldo's Al-Nassr in the semifinals to reach its first final, pressured after the restart but struggled to create clear chances against a team full of big-game experience.
Firmino, signed from Liverpool in 2023, is a past UEFA Champions League winner, as are his teammates Riyad Mahrez and Edouard Mendy, who lifted the trophy with Manchester City and Chelsea respectively.
Mahrez, with nine goals in the tournament, went close to adding a third late in the final, firing just wide.
The home fans were already celebrating.
"We are so proud. Once we knew that the final eight would be in Jeddah, it was our goal to be champions in front of our fans,” Al-Ahli goalkeeper Mendy said.
“Since I came here 18 months ago, they have supported us so much. As I said when I signed, it was to make history, to win trophies and to make this club as big as it was before.”
Al-Ahli is the third Saudi club to win the Champions League after Jeddah rival Al-Ittihad and Riyadh’s Al-Hilal.
AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer
Al Ahli players celebrate with the trophy at the end of the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Kawasaki Flontale's Sai Van Wermeskerken gestures at the end of the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli's Roberto Firmino holds up the trophy as celebrate with his teammates at the end of the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli players celebrate with the trophy at the end of the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Kawasaki Flontale fans cheer prior to the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli's Ivan Toney, left, attempts a shot at goal in front of Kawasaki Flontale's Kota Takai during to the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli's Roberto Firmino runs with the ball during to the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli's Wenderson Galeno celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal during to the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
Al Ahli's Wenderson Galeno, left, celebrates after scoring his side's opening goal as Kawasaki Flontale's goalkeeper Louis Takaji Yamaguchi reacts after he fails to save the ball during to the AFC Champions League Elite final soccer match between Kawasaki Flontale and Al Ahli at Alinma Stadium in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, Saturday, May 3, 2025. (AP Photo/Ali Issa)
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — President Donald Trump on Thursday threatened to invoke an 1807 law and deploy troops to quell persistent protests against the federal officers sent to Minneapolis to enforce his administration's massive immigration crackdown.
The threat comes a day after a man was shot and wounded by an immigration officer who had been attacked with a shovel and broom handle. That shooting further heightened the fear and anger that has radiated across the city since an Immigration and Customs Enforcement agent fatally shot Renee Good in the head.
Trump has repeatedly threatened to invoke the Insurrection Act, a rarely used federal law, to deploy the U.S. military or federalize the National Guard for domestic law enforcement, over the objections of state governors. In 2020, for example, he threatened to use the act to quell protests after George Floyd was killed by Minneapolis police, and in recent months he threatened to use it for immigration protests.
“If the corrupt politicians of Minnesota don’t obey the law and stop the professional agitators and insurrectionists from attacking the Patriots of I.C.E., who are only trying to do their job, I will institute the INSURRECTION ACT, which many Presidents have done before me, and quickly put an end to the travesty that is taking place in that once great State,” Trump said in social media post.
Presidents have invoked the law more than two dozen times, most recently in 1992 by President George H.W. Bush to end unrest in Los Angeles. In that instance, local authorities had asked for the assistance.
“I’m making a direct appeal to the President: Let’s turn the temperature down. Stop this campaign of retribution. This is not who we are,” Gov. Tim Walz, a Democrat, said on X.
Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison said he would challenge any such action in court. He's already suing to try to stop the surge by the Department of Homeland Security, which says officers have arrested more than 2,500 people since Nov. 29 as part of an immigration operation in the Twin Cities called Metro Surge.
The operation grew when ICE sent 2,000 officers and agents to the area early in January. ICE is a DHS agency.
In Minneapolis, smoke filled the streets Wednesday night near the site of the latest shooting as federal officers wearing gas masks and helmets fired tear gas into a small crowd. Protesters responded by throwing rocks and shooting fireworks.
Demonstrations have become common in Minneapolis since Good was fatally shot on Jan. 7. Agents who have yanked people from their cars and homes have been confronted by angry bystanders demanding they leave.
“This is an impossible situation that our city is presently being put in and at the same time we are trying to find a way forward to keep people safe,” Minneapolis Mayor Jacob Frey said.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Minnesota filed a class-action lawsuit on behalf of three people who said they were questioned or detained in recent days. The lawsuit says two are Somali and one is Hispanic; all three are U.S. citizens. The lawsuit seeks an end to what the ACLU describes as a practice of racial profiling and warrantless arrests. The government did not immediately comment.
Similar lawsuits have been filed in Los Angeles and Chicago and despite seeing initial success, have tended to fizzle in the face of appeal. In Chicago, for example, last year a judge ordered a senior U.S. Border Patrol official to brief her nightly following a lawsuit by news outlets and protesters who said agents used too much force during demonstrations. But three days later, an appeals court stopped the updates.
Homeland Security said in a statement that federal law enforcement officers on Wednesday stopped a driver from Venezuela who is in the U.S. illegally. The person drove off then crashed into a parked car before fleeing on foot, DHS said.
Officers caught up, then two other people arrived and the three started attacking the officer, according to DHS.
“Fearing for his life and safety as he was being ambushed by three individuals, the officer fired a defensive shot to defend his life,” DHS said. The confrontation took place about 4.5 miles (7.2 kilometers) from where Good was killed.
Police chief Brian O’Hara said the man who was shot did not have a life-threatening injury. O’Hara's account of what happened largely echoed that of Homeland Security, which later said the other two men were also in the U.S. illegally from Venezuela.
The FBI said several government vehicles were damaged and property inside was stolen when agents responded to the shooting. Photos show broken windows and insults made with paint. A reward of up to $100,000 is being offered for information. The FBI’s Minneapolis office did not immediately reply to messages seeking more details.
St. Paul Public Schools, with more than 30,000 students, said it would begin offering an online learning option for students who do not feel comfortable coming to school. Schools will be closed next week until Thursday to prepare for those accommodations.
Minneapolis Public Schools, which has a similar enrollment, is also offering temporary remote learning. The University of Minnesota will start a new term next week with different options depending on the class.
Madhani reported from Washington, D.C. and Golden reported from Seattle. Associated Press reporters Sophia Tareen in Chicago; Bill Barrow in Atlanta; Rebecca Santana in Washington; and Ed White in Detroit contributed.
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Law enforcement officers at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A woman covers her face from tear gas as federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester throws back a tear gas canister during a protest after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Federal immigration officers confront protesters outside Bishop Henry Whipple Federal Building, Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Minneapolis City Council Member Jason Chavez, second from left, blows a whistle with other activists to warn people of federal immigration officers Thursday, Jan. 15, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A child and family are escorted away after federal law enforcement deployed tear gas in a neighborhood during protests on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
A protester holds an umbrella as sparks fly from a flash bang deployed by law enforcement on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
Monica Travis shares an embrace while visiting a makeshift memorial for Renee Good, who was fatally shot by an ICE officer last week, Monday, Jan. 12, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
A protester yells in front of law enforcement after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Tear gas surrounds federal law enforcement officers as they leave a scene after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/John Locher)
Protesters shout at law enforcement officers after a shooting on Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Abbie Parr)
Law enforcement officers stand amid tear gas at the scene of a reported shooting Wednesday, Jan. 14, 2026, in Minneapolis. (AP Photo/Adam Gray)
