Alert: KSA-WCQ Russia 2018

It looks the same set of players will be used for the next qualifier game. I'd like for Yehya to be dropped but it appears that isn't happening, so hopefully at least Al-owais & Ghalib get in form to be ready to start with the NT.

 

Saudi Arabia should find a replacement for below players soon as they are over age:

33 years = Osama Hawsai
30 Years = Abdullah Al Zori
31 Years = Abdulmalek Al Khaibri
31 Years = Abdulmajeed Al Ruwaili

 

What's this news ?... : http://www.goal.com/ar-sa/news/3521/المنتخب-السعودي/2017/02/12/32592532/مدرب-الأخضر-يطالب-بإبعاد-كيال?ICID=HP_HN_1


Is there any new rift with the coach now with any of the administrative staff ?... Why all of a sudden Coach wants Tariq Al Kayyal to be sidelined ?... Is it because Tariq gave interview in the media without being authorized media person on behalf of the coach or Saudi FA ?...

B/w, who selects players in the National Team ?... Is it the Coach OR Tariq Al Kayyal ???... Who ever it is, I sure hope Ahmed Al Faraidy and Salem Al Dowsary get selected... National Team needs these 2 desperately... Also, hopefully Al Sahlawi and Al Shamrani develop an Attacking partnership upfront in the Attacking line... Naif Hazzazi needs to be a regular starter in his club otherwise, he should look for some other club where he can be in starting XI...

 

http://www.goal.com/ar-sa/news/3521/المنتخب-السعودي/2017/02/17/32783952/بحريني-لمواجهة-الأخضر-وتايلاند-وأوزبكي-لموقعة-العراق It's Bahraini referee in the match on 23rd March and an Uzbek referee in the match on 30th March... I feel that Bahraini referee will mostly give decision against Saudis in this match since his past performance in the Saudi matches have been somewhat bias in favour of opposing team. Don't know about the Uzbek referee though the last Uzbek in the Australian match was 100% up to mark and had officiated in a great manner.

 

KSA got lucky with the refs in the first 2 matches (3 given penaltys). How do you look back to those decisions?

 

Aren't Bahrainis your buddies? KSA and Bahrian are like family!

 

Both penalties against Iraq were legitimate. Penalty against Thailand 50/50 call.

 

Not in football... Remember Bahrain knocked Saudi out of World Cup 2010 qualifier with 2-2 draw in Riyadh...

 

That is only half of truth. I have seen the video match of Bahrain vs Iran when they knocked Iran from direct qualifying for WC 2002. They celebrated with Saudi flag in the field because Saudi Arabia advanced instead of Iran.

 

What you say above seems like truth but it's NOT based on following: When any Arab Team plays against any Non-Arab team then All Arab teams / nations are with the Arab team playing against the Non-Arab team... This was the case when Bahrain played against Iran that Bahrain won 3-1... It was equally important for Arab world to see one of the Arab teams qualify to the world cup hence that's why you see Saudi Flag in the last moments of celebration post final whistle in that particular match i.e., though Bahrain was out but still they were happy that an Arab team qualified with their result.

However, on the contrary, when it's an All Arab match then things are different ... example is Saudi x Bahrain in Riyadh that ended 2-2 in WC2010 qualifyer... Also, things are messy when an Arab is the referee in the game that involves an Arab team and since the referee knows the Arab mentality hence the decision goes against the Arab team so that's why it's not good for Saudi to have a Bahraini referee in the match since the referee won't give any 50/50 chances to Saudi which might impact the Saudi players on the pitch... It would have had been good if the referee would have had been from either Iran or Uzbekistan or South Asia in this match.

I gave above on neutral / non-bias basis... If you are still not convinced then there's nothing much to add from my side.

 

So, what are the chances of Fraidy and Salem Al Dowsary being selected for National Team ?
Also, who is hot favourite to replace Osama Hosawi in the match against Thailand ?...
It's good that Saudi clubs are in ACL since it will give players good match practice for national team matches.

 

I have 1 word for Abdul Fatah Al Assiri i.e., WOW...

He is in form and deserves to be in the Saudi National Team...

 

Not only striker but also a solid Defender... Osama Hawsawi's days are over, he hardly has any pace now ... KSA quickly needs a defensive ROCK and a striking Flare... Don't see anyone in Stiking position as of now though there are prospective players who deserve to be in the National team such as Abdul Fatah Assiri... In defense, it's open to replace Osama such as Abdullah Hafiz in Al Hilal... Also, you should find a replacement for Shehri and Alkaibri very soon ... 2 players that are always in mind are Ahmed Al Fraidi and Salem Al Dowsary.

The Saudi coach should definitely bring below 3 players in the National Team at any cost:

Ahmed Al Faraidi
Salem Al Dowsary
Abdul Fattah Al Assiri

TBH, Al Fattail did not impressed me much in any of Al Ahli's game.

 

http://www.goal.com/ar-sa/news/3022...خطيرة-تبعد-فهد-المولد-عن-الاتحاد?ICID=HP_HN_4

as per above news, Fahad Al Muwallad to miss out KSA vs Tha, and KSA vs Iraq matches.
Now, who would replace him ?... Fraidy OR Salem OR anyone else ?

 

I think the selection for Salem or Fraidy should be determined after seeing Salem's performance in today's match when Al -Hilal plays against Al-Wehda in the AFC Champions League

 

Did not want to bring it up but I really could not.

Bahrain vs. Iran match in 2001 is the worst memory in football for almost all Iranians not because we lost. It is because of the way Bahrain played and the way they acted after the game. I understand your point in first paragraph that when an Arab team achieves something such as qualification to the WC, for the rest of Arabs, It is as same as they achieved it unless the competition is just between Arab teams. Despite that, for Iranians, It was disrespectful when Bahrainis celebrated with Saudi Arabia flag after that match.

Unfortunately after that game, tension between Iran and Saudi Arabia in sport started. Right after this game, a lot of Iran football fans changed their look to KSA and Bahrain to very negative one along with couple more gulf nations but not as much as KSA and Bahrain. I remember when I was 5th grade in school, my classmates bought many football pics. During distribution, there was fight on who gets the Saudi Arabia national team pic because everyone loved it. After that game, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain became almost their least favorite teams. Like many fans, they thought not only KSA and Bahrain are like family and collaborated to knock out Iran, also Bahrain deliberately celebrated with Saudi Arabia flag to anger Iranians because both KSA and Bahrain hate Iran/Iranians. Unfortunately this is what many Iran football fans think. Note that we first blamed the coach and players particularly the coach for that defeat in 2001. IMO In terms of being unlucky, we were unlucky in the first leg against Ireland in Dublin more than any qualifier game we had since 1997. I cannot remember before that due to my age.

If you look at Iran vs. Bahrain maches in 2001 and 2005, there was fight during the games between them. In WCQs 2014, Bahrain needed Iran beats Qatar in Iran to advance to the next stage along with Iran. Iran was winning 2-1, the players after the game said they remembered 2001 and could not concentrate in last minutes. In last minutes, Qatar scored equalizer to advance with Iran. The players after the game (Mehrdad Pouladi, Karim Ansarifard, etc.) said they are very happy Bahrain is eliminated with their result and this is the link: http://www.mehrnews.com/news/1547683/انصاریفرد-همه-از-حذف-بحرین-خوشحال-شدند-نوری-این-یک-بازی-تدارکاتی

Dejagah and CQ were confused why the players are happy Bahrain is eliminated with their result.

Personally from bottom of my heart, not only I have nothing against KSA and Bahrain and their lovely people like many Iranians, I really love them because they are people with great culture and I know they are among greatest, kindest, politest, and most passionate people in the world.

 

KSA plays against Thailand in Thailand in the next match. Thailand will be tough mainly due to home advantage. At the moment, KSA needs to do whatever they can to comeback with full three points from Bangkok, Thailand to keep the momentum strong. KSA is missing two key defenders due to suspension which is 50% of your defense. Do you guys think is It going to impact on your team in Thailand or you think there is not any gap between these two players and their replacements?

After the WC expansion thread was posted, none of you guys gave any opinion about it. Do you guys agree with this decision or not? Personally I am. How about you guys?

 

KSA needs the victory more than Thailand. So I want to say good luck.