2022 World Cup Qatar: Group C - Argentina vs. Saudi Arabia

Having lived in Saudi for 20-years plus (where my love of Argentina started), although not Saudi, I can share some insight about Saudi.

Their star player is Salem Dossari - who usually starts on the left wing cutting in. Their other winger is Fahd Muwallad, who is pacy and has a strong shot. Salman Faraj is the one who pulls all the strings in the midfield. They also have a young striker, Buraikan, who is supposed to be their upcoming star - and who scored in their 1-0 win over Japan.

Saudi always has had good technical players, but extremely weak physically, extremely weak on set pieces and against an aerial game, and weak psychologically.

But if you have any desire to see how skillful they can be, you can watch some glimpses of Yusuf Thuniyaan, their former player. He won the Asian Cup twice with them.





This is why Saudis can still hang somewhat with skillful teams, but fall apart against fast teams who are strong aerially.

The one thing that they have going for them is their new coach, Herve Renard (who won the African Nations Cup with Zambia and Ivory Coast) has really worked on all these specific weaknesses for some time - and they seem to be improving.

It still should be a 3-4 goal victory for us.

 

Great insight. I actually hope we could bang more than Germany did in 2002

 

I’ve gotta ask. I see that the entire national team are home based. Why don’t Saudis go a play abroad? I get the money at home is probably good in Saudi Arabia. But surely playing in Germany second division or the Championship is much better than playing in Saudi’s top flight. I don’t think Saudi Arabia will ever progress if they continue this trend. They’ve somewhat have a history of being thrashed at the World Cup.

 

Its soooo important to get a strong start to a WC. This has to be an easy game for us, 3 easy pts, no drama and roll-over the next bums.

 

Win, no injuries and no yellow cards are priorities 1 and 2, for me. If things can be wrapped up by minute 60 to bleed in some back ups, all the better.

 

fighting in german second division vs easy pay day in saudi arabia lol tough choice.

 

I mean, you would think their federation would want them to venture out. It is a bizarre to be honest.

 

Unfortunately, the Saudi government is one of the sorriest group of people in the world. No surprise there.

A lot of Saudi players wanted to move abroad - I know this because I was invited to try out for two of their biggest teams professionally, Al Hilal and Al-Ittihad. This was early 80’s.

Even then a lot of players wanted to move, and I believe some of them could have successfully, like Majed Abdullah - who was called “Pele of the Desert.”

But the Saudi government never let them - because they feared they would get “corrupted.”

It was a 3-year jail sentence for anyone who even tried.

In general, people have a really bad optic about Saudi - and a lot of it is true.

But I will say this - the average Saudis on the streets, they are among the friendliest and welcoming people on the planet. And not a lot of people know, but there are a lot of relatively poor Saudis - I played with them in the streets for hours. They and their families are extremely kind.

It is just that the Royal Family, their princes and princesses, and their government are some of the most horrible people you will see. Not letting players go are some of the tactics they use to keep control of power.

It is even worse with MBS.

 

We are getting close to the World Cup. Honestly, some of the things I am reading about all these strict rules and laws the fans have to abide by is pretty ridiculous. There will be dress codes, the sale of alcohol within the stadiums will be forbidden and other silly rules.

The World Cup is a giant celebration of the world’s most popular sport. 2014 was considered a great tournament on and off the pitch. It was one giant party that did not stop from the first ball that was kicked to the last.

The Qatari’s need to open up their country to the guests that are coming in and let it be. People are already paying a premium for tickets and the hotels, the least they can do is treat their guests with some respect.


Now, FIFA is agreeing to start the tournament a day early, so that the Emir can put on some grand fireworks show. Pretty pathetic. FIFA needs to avoid ever having any tournament in that part of the world.

 

The Saudis are planning to submit a proposal for the 2030 WC and China is set to submit their own proposals. I know that Chile-Uruguay-Paraguay-Argentina are supposed to submit a joint proposal to host the 2030 (good news for Chile, they will finally qualify for the WC) but if China submits their proposal. . . . WC in China for sure. And someone explain to me how the oppressive regime of China is any different than the Qataris or Putin (and if we're being totally honest, 1978). FIFA has never had problems or moral dilemmas with doing business with dictatorships or corrupt regimes. This WC in Qatari will not age well, in 20 years people will be saying ""oh yea, that's right, there was a WC in Qatar" b/c we will try to forget it (unless Argentina wins the WC, then it will be the greatest WC ever)

Its all sh#$

 

I think when Russia and Qatar were awarded these tournament, everybody knew what was going on.

But at least with Russia in 2018, they did not insert ridiculous guidelines for the tournament. Qatar is saying, that they implementing these guidelines for the betterment of the fans, which is laughable.

Saudi Arabia.
A World Cup in Saudi Arabia, even partially would be awful. Would they throw a player in jail if he crossed himself or prayed with his teammates prior to kickoff… because we know within Saudi Arabia, freedoms of… well, anything is non-existent.

Argentina 78
As for the World Cup in 78. That tournament was awarded to us long before the Videla dictatorship arrived. But yes, in retrospect, that World Cup should have moved but Havelange was in power of FIFA at that time, and probably wanted to keep his power within the continent.

China.
The more I have thought about the World Cup in China the less I think they’ll get it. It is not because of how that government is but rather the time difference. China has a 6-7 hour difference from most of Europe, and 11-14 with North America. Are they going to have the matches at the crack of dawn(local time?).

I remember the 2002 World Cup and time differences were difficult, where 2 of our matches, were starting around 2-3 in the morning. So, I am just hoping that FIFA comes to their senses and avoid those logistical issues.

I know that China has noted the Olympics a myriad of times but, those time differences simply did not cater to most of the world. At times, some events were on tape-delay, which causes problems because rival networks would just announce the winners. Maybe it is just wishful thinking on my part.


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All in all,‘I’m just hoping for the tournament to be a good time. I’m just not a fan of the government dampening the mood with these guidelines.

 

Yeah, I know what you're saying. The moral complexity of these issues can be twisted in anyway someone wants.

There is part of me that genuinely believes that sports should be void of all politics, and should be viewed more like "soft politics" - cultural exchange ("everyone participate") type of thing, were the focus is coming together regardless of our differences. . . but then we read some of the awful sh#t that took place in the build up to the Qatari WC and the weird rules during the WC, that I think we should have requirements of some common ideals to any host. . . yeah, its all sh#t

 

So, the Saudis had a match today v Albania, where they tied 1-1. Apparently, the match was played behind closed doors and I do not think it was broadcasted. I guess, they have some masterplan that they do not want to share. But, the team being all local based, I guess they are preparing much earlier than everybody else(Perhaps Qatar is the only other side that will be prepared) but I am not sure what they can do. I suppose their hope is to manage a draw v us, and get another draw or win v Poland and go after a win v the Mexicans. They perhaps are aiming for 4-5 points. I do not think they want to be the whipping boys, particularly these matches are basically in their back yards.

 

So Lo Celso is out for 2-3 weeks and might be a doubt vs Saudi Arabia. If he is out for the match, I would start Papu.

 

The more I think about our group, the more I like the balance and the challenges that come with it. The Saudis will be a team who will bunker and play on the counter. It will give us a test in breaking down a team that plays in this manner. The Mexicans, if they close their first game to the Poles, then they will have to come out and play us evenly, or play on the counter. Poland… I kinda wish this was our second match because if we manage to win our first two, we may rest some players. But, Poland have a world-class forward and it could be a challenge containing him.


But here we are. Almost 4.5 years from the last World Cup. And by the way, I hope everybody watches this match Live. It is our first match and it is a 2AM game here on the West Coast. Call in sick to work or something.

 

Saudi beat Iceland 1-0 today.

 

Iceland stopped play football after 2018 World Cup. Well, 2016-18 Iceland are indeed a great story.

 

I don't think parking the bus is all that great of a story. In reality, that's what they did. Football is about play and playmaking. If everyone parked the bus, no one would watch.

 

one week away guys. Prediction: 4-0

 

7 Days, 10 Hours, 14 Minutes and 35 seconds. But who’s counting?

 

Messi with a brace.

 

To be fair, we're very limited in creativity during 2014 WC unlike the current team. Nobody could generates chances outside Messi in those days.

 

The Saudis did a great job in qualifiers, holding teams like Vietnam, Oman, and China at bay. That is no easy task.