President of the Saudi Youth Welfare Presidency Prince Nawaf bin Faisal apologized to the Saudi fans on his Twitter page for the 3-1 loss at Prince Muhammad bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam, and for not showing a good performance. He also thanked the huge number of fans that had arrived early to support the team.

Saudi fans filled the stadium one hour before the start of the match, believing that the Saudi team would collect the full three points taking advantage of playing at home. After the third goal, there was total silence in the stadium, as many were shocked in disbelief that the Saudi team, which qualified four times to World Cup, is at risk of exiting from the third round. The majority put the blame on the Saudi players and the team management. At the same time, Saudi fans spared coach Frank Rijkaard, because he did not spend enough time with the Saudi team. Saudi fans and sport critics are calling to find a quick solution for the team, who lost five points and collected only one point out of 18 in the group, which leaves them with 12 more points remaining in the other matches.

Prince Nawaf attributed the loss against Australia to the mistakes committed by individual players. He said that they would not rush in making decisions, but calmly examine the mistakes and work on avoiding them in the future. Prince Nawaf said he understood the anger of fans and media after the defeat. At the same time he urged them to give the team enough time to fix the mistakes and improve their performance.

Prince Nawaf said that he had contacted the Saudi team administration and coach, who were all unhappy with the result. He said that there would be major changes in the Saudi team, to be announced in the future.

Many Saudi fans interviewed after the match expressed their anger over the defeat. One of them, Mansour Al-Hasan, said that earning one point out of six was a disaster. “I think we contributed to the defeat because we underestimated (overestimated?) ourselves. The Australian team is not that strong and the only reason they won is because of our mistakes. Until when are we going to lose because of our mistakes?”

Faisal Muhammad, another Saudi fan, said that he was laughing when he browsed the sport channels to listen to commentators about the match. He said, “Some sport critics were talking about collecting all six points of home and away matches against Thailand. It looks like people have no respect for the other teams’ abilities. Thailand embarrassed Australians in front of their home crowds despite the 2-1 loss and defeated Oman 3-0. We have to be realistic and need to stop talking as if the Thailand match is going to be a walk in the park; it will not be. If we are not going to respect the other teams, especially the weak ones, I think we should be ready for another shocking defeat.”

Muhsin Abdul Rahman said that the Saudi team needed more time to adjust. He said, “We have to be realistic. The Saudi team performance will peak when the Saudi league starts, and players will be up to level and in shape to win matches. I wish the Saudi coach recalled Muhammad Nur back to the team, because he got the experience and he is a leader on the field. What was missing in the previous two matches was a strong captain to lead the team.”

“We reached an alarming level, but it is not over yet,” said 26-year old Abdul Rahim Ahmad. “The Saudi team is always able to come back. We still have four matches remaining, and it is possible for the Saudi team to qualify as second in the group. The most important thing at this moment is to focus on how to prevent mistakes from happening and how to improve the defense line.”