JEDDAH, 22 November 2007 — The Saudi national football team lost their chances of winning the gold medal in the 11th Pan-Arab Games in Egypt after drawing 1-1 with the UAE Olympic team yesterday.
The Kingdom team continued their poor performances in the tournament after failing to beat a UAE side that was not their first team.
The Saudi national coach Brazilian Helios Dos Angos surprised everyone when he gave the team a complete makeover, starting with substitute players instead of his starting lineup with the exception of midfielder Tasser Al-Nitaif.
Together for the first time as a team, the Saudi players were very shaky throughout the first half.
UAE scored the first goal in the 7th minute through forward Ismaeel Al-Hamadi who headed in the ball on the rebound after the Saudi goalkeeper failed to control a shot on goal by UAE midfielder Abdullah Qasim.
UAE defender Obaied Khalifa scored an own goal to give the Saudis equalizer in the 44th minute. Saudi Saleh Basheer fired a shot that bounced off the post hitting Khalifa’s leg into the goal.
In the second half, the Saudi coach attempted to save what he could save of out of his bad decision making as he brought in Yasser Al-Qahtani, Mohammed Al-Shalhoub and Malek Muaz, but the three star forwards missed the target one after the other. It just wasn’t their day.
In the 74th minute UAE Abdullag Qasem was sent off with a red card but it seemed like history repeated itself the Saudi team again failed to take advantage of an extra player on the field despite having more ball possessions through out the second quarter.
Going by the team’s poor results and with only five teams in the tournament winning a medal of any color is a daunting task for the Saudis who still have to face hosts and tournament favorites Egypt on Sunday.
Despite that yesterday’s draw left both teams with 4 points each although the Saudis have a four-goal difference. With the UAE having played all their matches, Saudi Arabia should not lose by more than three goals to Egypt to have any chance of winning the bronze medal.
