The three times champion is no longer the feared team in Asia. Saudi Arabia, instead of delivering a victory and erasing the memories of the bad performance the team showed against Syria in the opening Group B match, continued their run of weak performances and lost their chance to qualify for the second round.

Saudi fans expressed anger over the performance and demanded an immediate investigation into the manner of the exit and to hold accountable those responsible.

Optimists did not expect the Saudi team to lose the match, especially after the sacking of former coach Jose Peseiro following the shock opening match defeat against Syria 2-1.

The Portuguese was replaced by Saudi Nasser Al-Johar. Hoping that he would repeat the miracle of reaching the 2000 Asian Cup final in Lebanon, Saudi fans had already begun analyzing their chances against Japan in the last group match.

“Lets face it, the Saudi team is not as strong as it was before,” said Hashem Ahmad. He said that he did not expect the Saudi team to go past the semifinals, but he expressed shock that the team was out after the second group match.

“Jordan and Syria are new teams that played with heart, unlike the Saudi team which was sleeping. Gone are the days when teams relied on their past reputations. Saudi Arabia did not show any respect to the other teams in the group.”

“The good days are gone. The times of Majed Abdullah, Sami Al-Jaber and Yousuf Al-Thunayyan are gone. They left behind a very good legacy,” said Fadel Al-Yousuf, another Saudi fan.

He said that the current players did not live up to that reputation. He added that history will record that the once strong Saudi team made a sad exit against Syria and Jordan, who are, despite their good performances, newcomers with no real history in the competition.

“Everyone from team captain Yasser Al-Qahtani to goalkeeper Waleed Abdullah should be held responsible. The team manager should be held responsible. There must be an investigation and we need to see people punished for this embarrassment,” he added.

Fuad Amer, a Jordanian fan, congratulated the Jordanian team for its performance and said that the Saudi team did not display the mettle needed to win the title.

“If we look at the Saudi team in the past and compare it with the team now, we see a huge difference,” he said. “Having lived in Saudi Arabia for a long time, I support the Saudi team in all competitions and despite the Jordanian win, I felt sorry for the Saudis. It looked as if old people were running on the pitch. Strikers were not taking their chances to score. As for Jordan, it is too early to celebrate and we need to focus on the next match (against Syria) because the winner of that will make it to the next round.”

“As a Saudi, I am not sad nor angry. I am disgusted,” said Saudi fan Faisal Muhammad Ali. “The once almighty strong Saudi team exited the competition before India. We are the first to be out. Who is responsible for that? I would appreciate it if we lost but turned in a good performance, but we did not show anything to deserve even pity. The people at the Saudi Arabian football federation should be held accountable for the embarrassment.”

A young Saudi businessman said the country should now focus on other games in the tournament.