Saudi Arabia rebound from ‘shameful’ defeat
VOLGOGRAD: After Saudi Arabia opened the World Cup with a “shameful” 5-0 humiliation at the hands of hosts Russia, the Asian side showed a marked improvement in their subsequent Group A matches and will go home buoyed by a surprise victory over Egypt on Monday.
The 2-1 come-from-behind win in Volgograd handed the Green Falcons a first World Cup victory in 24 years and lifted them up to third place in the group — no mean feat considering they were the second-lowest ranked side of the tournament.
That upswing was evident in Saudi coach Juan Antonio Pizzi’s own description of the tournament as the Argentine-born former Spain international described the defeat against Russia as a shock.
The Saudis — the majority of whom play for domestic clubs — were noticeably improved in their second game against two-time world champions Uruguay. They lost 1-0, which restored some pride despite preventing an early elimination.
Salman Al-Faraj went on to score the team’s first goal of the tournament against Egypt after the Saudis were awarded a penalty on the stroke of halftime, before Salem Al-Dawsari slotted home the winning goal in the 95th minute.
“They will be able to tell their children, grandchildren: ‘I scored during a World Cup’,” added Pizzi, who took over as coach in November.
Once back in the kingdom, the Saudis will turn their attention to preparing for next year’s Asian Cup hosted by the United Arab Emirates.
On the other hand, Egypt goalkeeper Essam El Hadary saved a penalty after becoming the oldest player ever to appear at the World Cup on Monday but it was not enough to stop the Pharaohs sliding to a 2-1 defeat by Saudi Arabia.
The 45-year-old goalkeeper flew to his right to make a spectacular stop in the 39th minute from Fahad Al Muwallad’s spotkick at the Volgograd Arena.
“I’m really so happy,” he told
after the match. “I’m the happiest person in the world to set this record.”
But El Hadary’s joy was tempered after Saudi Arabia fought back from Mohamed Salah’s superb opening goal to claim a consolation win.
Both Saudi goals came deep into stoppage time in both halves, with Salem Al-Dawsari securing their first World Cup victory since a run to the last 16 in 1994 with the last kick of the match.
Egypt still have not recorded a World Cup finals win in three appearances.
Salah’s strike was Egypt’s first goal from open play at the World Cup since May 27, 1934, when Abdulrahman Fawzi netted in a 4-2 defeat by Hungary.
The Egyptians were still clinging onto their lead when the Saudis were awarded a controversial second penalty deep into first-half stoppage time as Fahad appeared to pull the shirt of the covering Ali Gabr before going down in a heap.
But after a VAR-induced review that took almost five minutes to complete, Colombian referee Wilmar Roldan decided to stick with his original decision.
It was second time lucky as Salman Al-Faraj took responsiblity for the spot kick and El Hadary could not repeat his heroics as the first-half clock ticked past 51 minutes.
But in the fifth minute of second-half injury-time, Al-Dawsari popped up in the box to beat El Hadary and secure a famous Saudi win.