JEDDAH, 20 June 2006 — There were long faces staring in silence at gigantic screens that were erected in many cafes around Jeddah as Saudi Arabia faced a crushing defeat while playing Ukraine in World Cup action yesterday.

Cafés were packed with even more eager fans than last week’s showdown between Saudi Arabia and Tunisia that ended in a 1-1 draw.

Jeddah’s Casper and Gambini’s restaurant witnessed another jam-packed day with its family section full to the brim with women dressed in green and cheering on the Green Hawks.

“We are just trying to express our happiness and support our national team,” said Maha Ahmad who came two hours before the match to reserve a place for her friends.

Waiter Omar Mohammed said that it was the first time he had seen such vocal women expressing their excitement.

“Men shout only when goals are scored, but women here are very expressive,” he said.

Before the match Saudi women felt optimistic that their team would win, despite that Ukraine was heavily favored to win. Sofana Kamal, 23, said she and her friends, Sarab Jamjoom and Sahar Naseif, were looking forward to the match and expected the Saudi national team to score at least one goal.

But after Ukraine’s fourth goal, many people who were holding Saudi flags, scarves and blowing air horns left the cafes and restaurants dejected.

Despite the loss, Tahliah Street was jammed with fans celebrating. Cars blew their horns and people hung out from side windows cheering for their national team.

At Tahliah’s Second Cup Café, many fans turned against the Saudi team after the third goal and started cheering for the Ukrainian team.

Vox café on the opposite side of the Second Cup Café was also packed with disappointed fans that could be heard shouting with despair each time the Ukrainian team scored a goal.

Kamel Al-Ghanmi, a 22-year-old Saudi college student, said that he expected the Saudi team to lose 3-1.

“When the Ukranians scored the first goal, I felt like something was going to go wrong. If there had been a little more time the Ukranian team would have scored two more goals against us,” he said.

Twenty-five-year-old Saudi British Bank employee Bard Bogari expected the match to end in a draw.

“The performance of the Saudi team at the World Cup has been far below what was expected. This was clear from their earlier match against Tunisia,” he said.

Mohammed Ghariri, a 30-year-old Lebanese computer technician, felt disappointed and said he never expected such a result. Although he is a non-Saudi, he seemed more loyal than some of the Saudis: he was shouting in grief each time Ukraine scored.

Naif Shawli, a 24-year-old Saudi store communication manager at Casaliceo department store, said that the team’s defense strategies were wrong “as usual.”

He said that he is definitely not going to go out to watch the Saudi match versus Spain.

“I’ll be at home because I expect a defeat that would make me unable to find my way home,” he said with the face of a sports fan that just had his expectations dashed.

During their first match, most Saudi fans were satisfied with their team’s performance but in yesterday’s match they were displeased with what they saw.

“It was their chance but they lost it with this weak performance and unorganized team,” said Dalal Hussain.

29-year-old Mazin Abdul Hadi, a Jordanian account director at Propaganda advertising, said that his friend invited him to watch the match in a café and cheer with the people. “I was carrying a Saudi flag all the time,” he said.

“I’m quite sad with the result,” he noted adding that he is hoping the Saudi team will perform better in their match against Spain.

Kingdom Coach Blames

Rain for Rout

Reuters adds in Hamburg, Saudi Arabia coach Marcos Paqueta said steady rain and a slippery pitch hurt his team the same way stifling heat had troubled Ukraine against Spain last week.

“Unfortunately we don’t have a lot of rain in Saudi Arabia,” Paqueta told reporters after the 4-0 World Cup defeat by Ukraine yesterday. “They are not used to playing on wet grounds.

“It’s very difficult, it’s like Ukraine in their first game (a 4-0 defeat by Spain). They had to play in a lot of heat.” Paqueta took his team to Hamburg four days before Monday’s Group H match to try to get used to the cooler temperatures and wet conditions.

But it was to no avail and Saudi Arabia’s weaknesses were exposed in the 36th minute when the rain got heavier, goalkeeper Mabrouk Zaid slipping as he tried to save a dipping long-range drive from Serhiy Rebrov which made it 2-0.

“We knew it would rain, the players were warned,” said Paqueta.