Two games, two defeats. Zero points and zero goals. The stats tell their own story for Saudi Arabia but the stats aren’t everything…
Going as far back as Saudi Arabia’s pre-World Cup friendly with Italy on 28th May, the proverbial writing had seemingly been on the wall for their World Cup campaign. The Saudis matched the far more experienced Italians when it came to possession while completing 616 passes compared to Italy’s 550. An astounding statistic when you consider the historical pedigree and quality of players on both sides.
However, if you have followed the Saudi team on their road to Russia, you would barely be surprised. The team is well-equipped in the centre of the park to match even the most technically gifted of players but it is in defence and in the final third where they are eventually outclassed.
Despite losing 5-0 to hosts Russia in the opening game of the World Cup, the Saudis enjoyed 61% of the possession while completing 557 passes compared to Russia’s 345. In their second game, a narrow 1-0 defeat to Uruguay, again they enjoyed more possession and completed more passes. Their insistence on playing football the right way is commendable.
Waiting to face Saudi Arabia like… 🍽 😋 #Cavani #Suarez #Salah pic.twitter.com/erqzYI5Qfw
— B/R Football (@brfootball) June 15, 2018
The heart of the problem is the heart of their defence. The Hawsawi brothers are simply not good enough. Technically deficient, they are consistently error-prone, undoing all the hard work of the midfield in front of them.
While the attack is led by the ever-reliable Mohammad Al Sahlawi, who has 28 goals in 41 international appearances, the team lacks that creative spark in the final third that separates them still from making it as one of the better teams in Russia.
In a way, Saudi Arabia could even be said to be employing a poor man’s tiki-taka style of play, a style so easy on the eye that they deserve to be forgiven for the defensive crimes they frequently commit.
Although it is true that the country was without one of its most influential players in Nawaf Al Abed due to injury, they still possessed enough quality to at least go down fighting instead of the dismal return of no goals and six conceded in their first two games.
The Saudis may have won over many admirers in Russia due to their persistence with their pass-and-move style of play but, in the end, they have lacked the ‘it’ factor necessary to take them from ‘just making up the numbers’ to ‘potential underdogs’.