Saudi team makes it to the World Cup
Soccer fans in Jeddah celebrated as Saudis stunned Japan with a 1-0 win
dubai — Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Crown Prince of Dubai and Chairman of Dubai Executive Council congratulated Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques, King Salman bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia, the Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz; Deputy Premier and Minister of Defence, and the brotherly Saudi people, on the occasion of qualifying the Saudi national team to 2018 Fifa World Cup in Russia.
Sheikh Hamdan bin Mohammed expressed his appreciation for the outstanding level displayed by the Saudi team during the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup, wishing the Saudi team will continue its successful journey. — Wam
Congratulations to the Kingdom’s men — Salman’s men — on qualifying to the World Cup 2018. A team who deserve representing the Arabs. My congratulations to the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the beloved Saudi people. HH Mohammed bin Rashid @HHShkMohd
I congratulate the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques and the brotherly Saudi people and Saudi football national team on qualifying for World Cup 2018….an Achievement that is honourable to all of us. HH Mohammed bin Zayed @MBZNews
seoul — When Australia narrowly defeated South Korea in the final of the 2015 Asian Cup, the prospect that World Cup qualifying for these two continental soccer heavyweights would depend on war-torn Syria was barely even a consideration.
In the third round, with just the top two teams in each group qualifying automatically for Russia, South Korea scraped through in second spot in Group A. The Taeguk Warriors would have dropped to third if Syria had beaten alreadyqualified Iran rather than being held to a 2-2 draw.
Australia missed out on direct qualification by a fraction in Group B, when Saudi Arabia edged already-qualified Japan 1-0 in the last game of the round and edged the Socceroos for second spot because of a superior goal difference.
Now Australia faces Syria in a two-match October playoff for the right to enter a November showdown with the fourth-place team from CONCAFAF, the Central and North American region. The winner of the intercontinental playoff will earn a spot at Russia 2018.
“I am very proud of my players,” Syria coach Ayman Hakeem said. “We still have a chance of going to the World Cup. It is too early to talk about Australia, but we know it will be a tough game.”
Syria’s achievement is all the more impressive as the team has been unable to play games at home because of the ongoing conflict in the country. Home games have instead been at a relatively empty stadium in Malaysia. Some of Syria’s best players, including Firas Al Khatib and Omar Al Soma, missed much of the campaign after expressing support for the opposition to the ruling regime in the war-torn country.
Al Soma returned for the penultimate game with Qatar and then scored the all-important second goal against Iran deep into injurytime in Tehran. —