LONDON: Some Saudi Arabia football fans have reacted with bemusement after two of their World Cup stars were left out of the match day squads by their adopted La Liga clubs.

Fahad Al-Muwallad joined Levante and Salem Al-Dawsari moved to Villarreal last month as part of a joint initiative between La Liga and the Saudi Football Federation that saw nine Saudi players move to Spain in a bid for them to gain top-level experience ahead of the World Cup.

However, Al-Muwallad has not been named in the Levante squad for their game with Real Madrid tonight while Al-Dawsari has missed out on selection for Villarreal’s game at Real Betis this evening. Both clubs announced their lineups on Twitter and fans took the opportunity to bombard the accounts of both teams with comments, expressing their frustration, with a mixture of annoyance, frustration and good humor.