ATLANTA (AP) — As Spain jumped out to a 4-0 lead early in the second half, Saudi Arabian striker Saleh Al-Shehri could only hold his head on the bench. world cup.
Saudi Arabia was always losing heavily against the European champions. However, there were still hopes for an upset. After all, in 2022 Saudi Arabia famous argentina defeat At the World Cup. And just six days ago, in this very stadium, Cape Verde, making their first World Cup appearance, frustrated Spain. Keeping it to a 0-0 draw.
But Sunday was different, with Spain dominating from the start, having 22 shots to Saudi Arabia’s three.
4-0 loss It wasn’t a fatal blow for the Green Falcons. A win against Cape Verde on Friday will leave Saudi Arabia with a chance to advance through the group stage.
However, this defeat Poured billions of dollars into sports This is because they are trying to bring more legitimacy to the domestic league and strengthen the national team ahead of Saudi Arabia. 2034 World Cup venue.
Saudi Arabia’s squad is almost entirely made up of players who compete in the Saudi Pro League, where they play against and against aging superstars such as Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mane.
Although Saudi Arabia has begun to move away from such spending on international stars, Green Falcons coach Georgios Donis said their presence had raised the standards of the Saudi league and helped develop local players, but admitted that translating that to the international stage remained a challenge.
“The more competition there is, the better the players will be,” he said.
Despite this investment, players from Saudi Arabia sometimes struggle to get enough playing time on the field. Starting goalkeeper Mohamed Al-Owais, for example, joined the Saudi second division club last year in order to get more playing time.
The national team has had three coaches in the past two years. Donis takes office There are less than two months left until Saudi Arabia begin their World Cup campaign.
The tournament had a more promising start for Saudi Arabia last week. 1-1 draw with Uruguay They held the lead until the 80th minute. But Sunday against Atlanta, they never looked like a threat and were down 3-0 within the first 25 minutes. Donis called Sunday a “bad result” against “one of the best teams.”
Spain coach Luis de la Fuente said the Saudi players showed good coordination, but they faced a “very strong” Spanish team.
Looking to Cape Verde, Donis said he was confident the team would rediscover their potential.
“We will return to a very competitive level,” Donis said.
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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup
