Hope #1: That someone will underestimate them.
Here are the easy narratives when talking about Saudi Arabia. They are minnows. Their domestic league players cannot play against opponents from Europe. They are a bad side.
These are the things that chances are you have read in about 100 interviews on this side at this point. Saudi Arabia will hope that their opponents have read them as well. It wouldn’t be the first time that they have had the deck stacked against them. No one expected them to defeat the likes of Japan, the United Arab Emirates, or Thailand in Thailand. Matter of fact not much was expected of this side. But here we are.
Group A is not exactly a Group of Death. Uruguay has their flaws, Egypt will have a hurt Mohamed Salah, and Russia will have burdens that no side would want. There are points to be had in this group and any side that overlooks The Green Falcons will regret it.
Hope #2: That Mohammad Al-Sahlawi can channel Saeed Al-Owairan
To make it into the knockout stage Saudi Arabia would be wise to look to their past and the 1994 World Cup. In their first match against Belgium Saeed Al-Owairan scored one of the greatest goals in the World Cup. The art of an upset requires the underdog to punch the favorites in the mouth and that’s just what Al-Owairan’s goal was.
So who is the guy that Saudi Arabian supporters will hope will provide that spark? All eyes seem to be on Mohammad Al-Sahlawi. Al-Sahlawi was tied with Robert Lewandowski of Poland and Ahmed Kahlil of the United Arab Emirates for most goals during qualification with 16. He was a trialist in April with Manchester United and there is some thought that he might be off to Europe in this tournament. Knocking off one of Group A’s favorites would certainly help his chances.
Hope #3: That their experience in the AFC Champions League will give them an inkling as what to expect.
Sixteen of Saudi Arabia’s twenty-three players come from either Al-Ahli or Al-Hilal, two of the top sides in the Saudi Arabian Premier League and the two sides that represented the country in this year’s AFC Champions League. Having that level of familiarity with one another will help the side as they traverse new and untested waters in Russia.
The Big Fear: That this is a repeat of the 2002 World Cup.
Saudi Arabia’s 2002 appearance in the World Cup did not exactly go well. They lost all three games and were outscored 0-12 against the likes of Germany, Cameroon, and the Republic of Ireland. Much like this side, that side was raw, untested, and are going against teams with prolific scorers. This is going to be a tall test for Saudi Arabia and whether they can adapt match-to-match and not let scorelines get out of hand (particularly against Uruguay) will determine their fate.
Saudi Arabia
2018 World Cup
