JEDDAH, 21 June 2006 — With all respect to the efforts of the Saudi national team, many fans feel unsatisfied and betrayed by the team’s performance in their first two matches of the 2006 World Cup. In their first game against Tunisia the Saudi team managed to at least score two goals and gain a point but the match against Ukraine was a humiliating embarrassment.
Many people felt that after the Tunisia match the Saudi team felt proud and over-confident and this is what led them to losing. According to some, the Saudi team suffered from an inferiority complex that manifested itself when facing Westerners and Europeans.
Some teenagers like Hani Khomais blame the players for losing and say that the team did not show any teamwork or spirit. Khomais thought that Saudi Arabia would have scored at least four goals not the other way round. “All of the players were trying to play solo, everyone was selfish in trying to score by themselves and they failed miserably. If they had some strategy and team spirit they could have made a big difference,” he said.
Older fans described the game as an awkward one. Abu Wajdi for example blamed the coach and said that it seemed the coach was unable to provide a proper game plan for the players to follow.
Naif Al-Otaibi also blamed the coach, saying the team should have played with two strikers rather than one. “I am not against loosing against a big team like Ukraine. The bad thing is that our performance was terrible. We will never reach the second stage of the World Cup until we restructure the team effectively.”
Soccer fan Dalia Al-Khouli was afraid that the Saudi team would have been even more embarrassed and lost 6-1 – she was close. “It was their chance but they lost it with this weak performance and unorganized team,” she said.
Ahmad Ali, a Saudi fan, said, “The Saudi performance against Ukraine shocked many of us. We thought that we might at least win a match, especially since our performance in the first game against Tunisia was pretty good. We suffered a huge defeat against Ukraine 4-0. Does that mean that we will loose 8-0 to Spain?”
Businessman Abdulaziz Ahmad watched the second match at his friend’s house and said that the match ruined his day. “It was a shame to see such a poor performance, the mistakes are similar to the ones seen in the soccer played on streets,” he added.
Some fans believe that the SR100, 000 that players received as a reward for scoring two goals in their first match against Tunisia contributed to them failing in the second match. Ahmad Farooq commented, “Once they received the cash it was a win win case for them. They probably thought why do we need to bother trying to win?”
Judi Khalidi, a mother of four, said that she would prefer the Saudi team to raise a white flag and not face Spain. For her losing 4-0 was a more than enough embarrassment.
Khalidi’s daughter Reham also watched the match with her mother in a restaurant on Tahlia Street. Reham felt upset at the result and cancelled all plans on seeing a third match away from home. She thanked God she hadn’t traveled to Germany and pities those who went.
It seems that after this match the Saudi team has lost all chances to win and also lost the opportunity of establishing themselves on an international level. The dream of getting international recognition has been lost.
After the match the Saudi midfielder Mohammed Nur told Ar-riyadiyah in Germany that rain had affected their performance. Atif Rabea a football fan in his forties said the excuse was a poor one.
Rabea added that it rains considerably in Europe and therefore the team should have been prepared to play in all conditions. He furthermore said that if Mabrouk Zaid, the Saudi goalkeeper, felt sick then he should have stepped aside and allowed Al-Deayea to take his place and save our face in front of the 50, 000 spectators that were watching the match.
Hassan Muhammad said, “I listened to some lame excuses by the Saudi coach who blamed the huge defeat on rainy weather. If we are not ready to play in rainy weather then I think we should stop playing in the World Cup. What happened to the training camp in Europe? It was in Europe not in Africa.”
Muhammad added that the Saudi team needed to admit that they are unready to play against big teams in the World Cup. “Losing like this is embarrassing. I am not optimistic about the game against Spain. I think it will end in huge defeat.”
