Racing Post

No lack of preparation but Saudis up against it

Mark Langdon

FAIL to prepare, prepare to fail. It’s one of the oldest adages in sport andd yet it is likely Saudi Arabia will still fail at the World Cup in neighbouring Qatar despite having more time to prepare than most of their fellow participants.

Herve Renard, revered in African football for his work with a number of different nations, returns to the World Cup safe in the knowledge he has a bumper contract which has been extended to 2027, and he was able to start his training camp on October 24.

That’s about where the positives end, although you could also give a tick in the boxx of star man Salem Al-Dawsari, who would holdh his own in a decent Euroopean league. Saudi Arabia reached the last 16 in theeir first World Cup in 1994, but it has been three and out in foour subsequent attempts, deespite a win over a dispirited Eggypt in their final ame in 2018.

The GGreen Falcons’ veralll record is played 16 wwon three and drawwn two but four of thoose positive five ressults were against AAfrican teams. TThe one exception wwas the iconic solo goal scored by Saeed AAl-Owairan which dowwned Belgium 28 yearss ago.

Saudi Arabia have no African nations in Group C to help boost the points total this time around and what could be a crucial second match against Poland is one which the trends suggest will end in defeat.

Not only have Saudi Arabia lost their last eight World Cup matches against European nations, they have also failed to score in all of those defeats.

Saudi Arabia improved as qualifying went on, won all five home matches and showed their resilience in a 0-0 bore draw away to Australia on a rain-soaked Parramatta evening.

The weather will be better. The football? Not so much.

DLSeen as a runner-up merchant having lost Copa America finals with Paraguay and Argentina and Gold Cup and Nations League finals with Mexico. Martino also lost the Spanish title race with Barcelona on the final day, but did lead Atlanta United to MLS glory.

• Vastly experienced squad

• Won their opening match in five

of the last six World Cups • Reports suggest Mexico expect 60,000 fans to travel to Qatar, making them easily one of the most-backed teams in the tournament

Injuries have contributed to a disruptive build-up Set-piece defending is a concern

• Playing Argentina second rather

than third might be a problem

WORLD CUP 2022 GROUP C

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