idk why Pizzi wants Saudi playing so openly...Saudi are not good enough to compete like that. Especially when their best players have been rotting on a bench for no good reason the past season.
Well in every wc there's always that one Asian team that shits the bed (excluding 2014). Hopefully this means we won't do too bad.
There are some mitigating factors. It's a home game for Russia, they're more comfortable in their surroundings, the crowd is on their side, they're amped up for the tournament opener. And I think Saudi bringing in a new coach - especially the way they did it - had to have an impact. And I wouldn't put it past Russian fans (or even the Russia FA) to have pulled a few stunts to mess with the team, like causing disruptions at the team's hotel. Who knows, maybe even stuff like what happened with Colombia in 1994, i.e. death threats in their hotel rooms. And yeah, maybe bribery too.
they are in a such doable group too. How can you lose 5-0 to RUSSIA. Can we just have that entire Arabia play in Africa, and everything east of that ASIA. Plus its much closer to Africa anyways
Get serious. This wasn't a win by a fine margin. Russia were superior in every aspect. Obviously their low ranking reflects the fact that instead of playing lots of meaningless matches, they were training hard in a periodised programme, just like Korea in 2002.
This Saudi Arabia team just made AFC look bad. Salah, Cavani and Suarez is going to run a train through that team.
Well, it was clear from the fact that Bert resigned what had happened. The officials from their football association wanted them to play an unrealistic and dumb passing/attacking football when they had 0 talent to do that. Now they look like bunch of amateurs clearly out of their depths.
The underestimated their opponent. They don't have the players to play through Russia with possession football. They should have played teh way they normally do. Park the bus with their imaginary mattresses and trie to score on a set piece
yea but we scored 2. One of the reason our NT and league is affected is b/c the leagues in that peninsula take our players and turn them into crap. Plus is a pain for our boys to fly there. Its more convenient to have the entire peninsula in Africa
Last time I remember them playing against us was the friendly before Asian Cup 2015. They didn't park the bus against us.
Disgrace of a performance. I saw at least 10 occasions where KSA turned the ball over in central midfield trying the first pass out of defense. Absolutely dire. Didn't press, disinterested, lost every important 50:50 ball. No heart. We may be sht, but we will go down fighting. Tuhon!
Their shape when defending was comical. At one point, Russia had one forward near the top of the box and another forward outside the box looking to make a run inside. Meanwhile, the Saudi back four were so narrow that they all lined up in a straight line well within the box. Without any defender to cover the open spaces on the wings, Russia just toyed with them. What I found funny was when they were lumping it forward with diagonal long balls into the box. One forward would be on the left side of the box. And the other three in or around the box were all on the right side. Not a single one of them made a run towards his teammate trying to knock the ball down. This was sadder than when they got slapped down 8-0 by Germany in WC02. At least, then they had an excuse against a really good German side.
they were bribed. The fact that they got into Russia's group was fixed. The fact that they played them in the opening game was fixed. Some of those turnovers were suspicious. Not even KSA is that bad.
Russia was smart playing with an early high press counter attacking mentality. They never really gave the saudis much room to breathe, leading to numerous mistakes. The saudi defense was absolutely appalling and on par with AFC defending standards. Left huge gaps on the wings, something knt is very familiar with. korea will suffer way worse than the saudis since knt has no talent in the backline and are usually inept during fast counters. They will get anally raped.