JEDDAH, 31 May — This Saturday the time has come for action. Battle lines have been drawn. The armchair commentators have spoken, and the moment of truth has arrived.

The Saudi football team, the Middle East’s strongest contender for football supremacy will throw their hat in the the football field in hopes of surpassing their 1994 World Cup performance, and here are reasons why the will do just that:

Saudi Arabia is in good company, Ireland, Germany and Cameroon are not smash-mouth teams like Brazil, even though experts are predicting that none of these three teams are going to move past round two.

So being in this group is a blessing in disguise, and if the actual matches end up being tight low scoring games, then the Saudi team can pull off another one of their last-minute upset victories.

Location is another factor, while East Asia is not as hot or humid as Saudi Arabia, you have to agree that the Saudi team is going to fare better than for example Ireland — just remember Steve Staunton positively melting in the heat of Miami in 1994.

Saudi Arabia also has a number of bright sparks on their team. Sami Al-Jaber recently had spills at Nottingham Forest and Wolver Hampton Wanderers in the English First Division.

Nawaf Al-Temyat is the current Asian Footballer of the Year, and if in good condition throughout the games will definitely add to the equation.

Two more dark horses are Talal Al-Meshal and Obeid Al-Dossary who during the qualification matches banged in the goals, scoring 20 between them, to go with Al-Jaber’s eight. Indeed, the Saudis scored 47 goals, the most of any World Cup competing team.

There’s the Saudi team’s X-factor. The Saudi team is one of the most mysterious, enigmatic teams participating in the World Cup, with Germany’s assistant coach scrambling to educate his team on who’s who on the opposite side of the field.

Everyone on the Saudi team is healthy, except for reserve goalkeeper Mohammed Babkr; on the other hand Germany is missing an important team member in defender Marco Rehmer, who’s still recovering from a shoulder injury.

The final factor is what Prince Turki ibn Khalid calls “our secret weapon”, Saudi attitude. The Saudi team’s spirit, and do-or-die outlook more than makes up for any other shortcomings. Watch closely, they will surprise you.