Saudi Arabia was the team that handed eventual champion Argentina its only loss at the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. However, it’s hard to believe that the Saudis will be as competitive as they were when they played South Korea in an exhibition match on March 13 (KST).
This is because many of their players can’t even play in their own league. Saudi players rarely travel to other countries’ leagues. Especially at the national level, all of their players play in their own league. All of the players who have been called up for the past year, including those who will play against South Korea, have been domestic.
However, with the influx of foreign players in the Saudi league, national players with overlapping positions are unable to play. This season, the Saudi Pro League, as it’s known, went on a spending spree and brought in a number of world stars. They have an eight-man roster limit. Fourteen of the 18 teams have filled all of their spots, with three teams down to just one player and only Al Ahli down to two. In total, there are 139 players in the league.
Most of the foreigners are superstars. Al-Hilal, for example, has goalkeeper Yassin Bunu, defender Kalidou Koulibaly, midfielders Hubeng Neves and Sergei Lilinkovic-Savic and Mikael, and forwards Neymar, Maukong, and Aleksandar Mitrovic. Of those, seven are playing, and five are close to full-time, not counting Neymar, who has yet to play due to injury.
The problem is that Al-Hilal is a product of the Saudi national team, which has nine players representing the country. First-choice goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais, who impressed against Argentina at the World Cup, hasn’t played a single game for the club, overshadowed not only by Bunu but also by his fellow homegrown goalkeepers.
Of the nine Saudis in Al-Hilal’s squad, only four play regularly for their club. Three are halfway through their roster and two are not even considered. In Neymar’s absence, the team’s main star, Salem Aldosari, has played consistently and scored four goals. He’ll have to make way for Neymar when he returns, but he hasn’t had any problems with his game until South Korea.
As for goalkeepers, there are four in the Saudi squad, but three of them have been outplayed by foreign goalkeepers from their respective clubs. Only Al Nasr’s Nawaf Alkidi, who doesn’t have a foreigner on his team, has retained any game experience. Alkidi has only three A-match caps, but given his club’s situation, he should be a regular in the future.
Of the 26 players in Saudi Arabia’s roster, less than half of them are starters, with 12 having played through the fifth round of their national league. Seven players played less than half of the total time. Two players have only been used occasionally and seven have not played a single game.
The Saudi Football Federation recently lured Roberto Mancini, a high-profile coach who has coached the Italian national team, to take over the reins, promising him a large sum of money. However, the national team’s current form and morale are near rock bottom. In the future, systemic changes and measures may be put in place to keep the national team performing well, but not before South Korea.온라인카지노
Saudi Arabia played two A matches at home in March and were swept, and did not play an A match in June. As if that weren’t bad enough, they’re facing South Korea with a number of players who haven’t played recently. The team facing South Korea is in a worse state than the 54th-ranked team in the FIFA rankings.
The good news for South Korea is that several of their key players, including Saudi stars Aldosari, Fahad Almuwallad, and Mohammed Khanno, are traveling with their clubs. The only players who won’t be available are goalkeeper Al Owais. However, this is the second match in a row. The Saudis will face Costa Rica on Sept. 9, followed by South Korea. If they play a lot of non-starters against South Korea, it could be a problem not only in terms of their individual performance but also in terms of their physical condition, making it difficult for them to be meaningful sparring partners.