Saudi Arabia

[Martin-Reza]

I must say I didn't see many matches of KSA recently, so I don't know too much about them. Also that they again changed the coach makes them somewhat unpredictable.

Maybe the F+ers can use their knowledge to shed more light on this team. Please add what you know now, and feel free to add updates whenever you find out sth later.

Here the lineups they used in the final 2 matches. Two different coaches were in charge for these matches, however, the used lineups were rather similar:

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/prelimi...554/index.html

http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/prelimi...552/index.html

[Martin-Reza]

Players I know are
- Yasser Al Qahtani (20), who is the 24-year-old captain and a forward (or more trequartista). He is fast, technically gifted and a good goalscorer
- Malek Muath Al Hawsawi (9), who is their main striker. To me he appears like the Saudi Arabian Borhani, because he is fast and also technically gifted, but messes up in front of goal often. I've seen the guy in action about 6-7 times and saw him missing about as many 100%ers
- Mohammad Al Shloub (10), who is their leftwinger as far as I know.

Abdoh Autef (15), Ahmed Ateef (18) and Khaled Aziz (16) appear to be the other 3 regular midfielders, Saad Al Harthi the number one backup for attacking line. I don't know anything about them though.

The following 4 are their fourback, but I don't know who plays which position exactly:
Osama AL HARBI 2
Redha TUKAR 3
Osama HAWSAWI 4
Abdullah SHUHAIL 7

Their main goalkeeper Walid Ali didn't play in the last game and wasn't on the bench either. I assume he was injured, but it could also be the new coach doesn't like him.

Ok, anyone knows more? Please share!

[The-Red]

all I know is that after a few years of going through a change in generation, {2002-2006}, saudies are back to the top of asian football, by that I mean top 3 or 4, and their performances in the last asian cup is an indication of that...their game against japan in the semis was simply a great game to see and the saudies showed their capabilities as a football team...
they are not what they were 10-15 years ago, but very close to it and if I was to select a winner for our group right now, I would go with the Saudies as their recent form and results puts them right above S Korea and Iran by a narrow margine perhaps...
as I said in the other threat, they always find a way to make the wc and we have paid for that at least on 2 ocassions in the last 10 years...

[zzgloo]

I do not think thier 4-0 win against uzbaks are any indication...as the uzbaks already 15 pointers and qualified,
nor do I think, the uzbaks wanted to win that game, the way,Ali daei wanted to beat Kuwait in the final game.
how ever, saudis first game in uzbakistan ,must have been very very important to the saudies, and they lost it 3-0.
saudis ,and uzbaks punching bags, were lebanon who did not play,and singapor.....so, thier 15 point qualification, was not big a deal.and particularly saudis were not impresive at all.
While Iran, with a shaky status and playing without lot of legioners,and a brand new coach...and more importantly, tougher group,were more impresive than the saudis.

[The-Red]

I really hope KSA is not the deal that I am making them to be....I just have many many bad memories, as almost everyone else here has from them and that is effecting the way I am judging them perhaps.

[Paradigm]

I must say I didn't see many matches of KSA recently, so I don't know too much about them. Also that they again changed the coach makes them somewhat unpredictable.
Maybe the F+ers can use their knowledge to shed more light on this team. Please add what you know now, and feel free to add updates whenever you find out sth later.
Here the lineups they used in the final 2 matches. Two different coaches were in charge for these matches, however, the used lineups were rather similar:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/prelimi...554/index.html
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/prelimi...552/index.html

Not to worry Martin jaan, we should send Germany to hand them an 8-0

[Nokhodi]

Saudi Arabia even when they play bad, they always qualify. The have qualified for 4 world cup's in a row without any problem and never lose their cool even when they replace their coach.
Sure their world Cup performances (except 94) have been terrible, but they really know how to beat any Asian team.

[Haj Mahmoud]

I said this in another thread, but Saudi Arabia is an easily beatable team so long as we learn their style of play and make sure at all cost not to adapt it during the course of the 90 minutes of play.

What do I mean? I'm speaking here of the specific style they have which consists of periods of calm, and then short sporadic bursts of energy. How we deal with that will be the decisive factor in whether we win or lose.

If we get lured into playing their game, on their terms, we'll lose. If we force them to play our game, and if play a steady game and keep pressure on them without spacing out then we'll win.

I know that's a bit abstract, but I used to follow Saudi football very closely in the 90s and the few performances I've seen from the since have only reiterated my belief about their style of play.

[Doctor DOOM]

I agree with both nokhodi and haj mahmoud.

good posts that highlight matters that our staff shd take notice of.

good job guys

[maij]

The darling of Saudi Football is Yasser Al Qahtani. This player is better than their older stars of yesteryears , however he is probably the only star of the Team. The other one , whose is the bad boy of Saudi Arabia is Mohammed Noor. He is in and out of the team always facing some kind of disciplinary problem , and highly inconsistent. But in his good day , Mohd Noor can be sensational.

The other notable player is Shalhoub , the tiny winger who is as fast as a rocket.

Main problem with Saudi is their lack of height up front. They have one or two decent tallish attackers but have been on the bench lately.

I guess , the midfield is where the battles are won. IF Team Melli can control that area, and I don't see why they cant , beating KSA away in Riyadh is a real possibility.

[Kaveh]

a bit off topic but interesting comment on saudi forum regarding group B
A thread entitled: The fear is not of Iran and SK but UAE

the user states that UAE have played dirty tricks in the past against their opponents and saudis should beware of that!(changing the playing ground vs Oman in the persian gulf cup or cutting the electricity in the match vs Syria when they were behind.

It's interesting to see that even saudis accuse emiratis of not respecting sportsmanship!

الخوف مش من ايران وكوريا ج الخوف من منتخب (الانارات)

بسم الله الرحمن الرحيم



لاحد يعتقد بان هناك خطأ املائي
فانا كنت اعني كلمة الانارات
منتخبا ايران وكوريا منتخبات قوية ولكن هي في الاول والاخير شعارها (الميدان ياحميدان)

بينما المنتخب الاماراتي لديه بعض الاساليب الغير رياضية
وانا هنا اتكلم استنادًا على حوادث سابقة
فقاموا بتصغيرالملعب في نهائي كاس الخليج 18 بعدما شاهدوا
العمانيين واسلوب لعبهم معهم في مباراة الافتتاح
قاموا بقطع التيار الكهربائي وانطفات (الانارات) التي تنير الملعب بعدما شعروا بان التاهل للتصفيات النهائية لكاس العالم ستطير من بين ايديهم
بعدما كانوا مهزومين امام المنتخب السوري 2-0 وكان يكفي المنتخب السوري هدف واحد فقط

لهاذا الحذر كل الحذر من هذه الاساليب

http://www.alzaeem.net/showthread.php?t=601240

[zzgloo]

I read that The saudies have changed 42 coaches in the last 50 years.
Particularly,in the last 8 years, Al Johar has been thier coach every other year, as he is the one they keep going back to any time they fire a coach...
In the last 50 years,they have had German,Croacian,and even french coaches, but 80% of about 30 foerign coaches they had were from south America, particularly Argentina or Brazil.
Al Johar, is some one like Parvin with a lots of experince, but never satisfactory as a head coach..since he has been fired from coaching national team more than 5 times.
The Saudies under Al Johar may be les technical,and more basic.

[Martin-Reza]

Interesting to see the rivalry between countries we always think would cooperate. Maybe UAE wants KSA even less to qualify than Iran. Neighbourhood also means rivalry. Austrians also always want Germans to lose, outsiders might think closely related neighbours would help and cheer for each other in football.

[Doctor DOOM]

I dont think it's the same thing, as with arabs, there is that other bindng factor: Arab vs. Ajam.

and arabs have a history ( tradition, I dare say ) of doing this for their brethren, especially if it is against a non-arab team.

so if it is a triangle of kuwait, uae, ksa ... then your theory holds.
but bring in a non-arab ( especially IRAN !!!!! ) instead of one of the trio, then you have totally different mind set and affiliations

[purple_haze]

I dont think it's the same thing, as with arabs, there is that other bindng factor: Arab vs. Ajam.

and arabs have a history ( tradition, I dare say ) of doing this for their brethren, especially if it is against a non-arab team.

so if it is a triangle of kuwait, uae, ksa ... then your theory holds.
but bring in a non-arab ( especially IRAN !!!!! ) instead of one of the trio, then you have totally different mind set and affiliations

Exactly and they've proven this many times.