After spending billions, Saudi Arabia gets a World Cup wake-up call against Spain

ATLANTA (AP) — Sitting on the bench, Saudi Arabia striker Saleh Al-Shehri could only put his head in his hands as Spain extended its lead to 4-0 early into the second half at the World Cup.

Saudi Arabia had always been a heavy underdog against the European champion. But still there was hope for an upset. After all, in 2022, Saudi Arabia had famously defeated Argentina in the World Cup. And, just six days ago, in this very stadium, World Cup debutant Cape Verde had frustrated Spain, holding them to a 0-0 draw.

Sunday was different, though, as Spain dominated from the start, recording 22 shots to Saudi Arabia’s three.

The 4-0 loss was not a fatal blow for the Green Falcons. A win against Cape Verde on Friday would still give Saudi Arabia a chance to advance out of the group stage.

But the defeat was a demoralizing blow for a country that has poured billions into the sport as it tries to bring more legitimacy to its domestic league and bolster the national team ahead of Saudi Arabia hosting the 2034 World Cup.

Saudi Arabia’s team is almost entirely composed of players who compete in the Saudi Pro League, where they play with and against aging superstars like Cristiano Ronaldo, Karim Benzema and Sadio Mané.

Though Saudi Arabia has started to pull back from such spending on international stars, Green Falcons coach Georgios Donis said their presence had raised the standard of the Saudi league and helped local players develop, though he acknowledged that translating those gains to the international stage remains a challenge.

“The more competitive the competition, the better our players will be,” he said.

Despite those investments, native Saudi players have sometimes struggled to get significant minutes on the field. Starting goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais, for instance, joined a club in the Saudi second tier last year to secure more playing time.

The national team has also had three coaches in the last two years, with Donis appointed less than two months before Saudi Arabia kicked off their World Cup campaign.

The tournament had opened more promisingly last week for Saudi Arabia thanks to a 1-1 draw with Uruguay in which they held the lead until the 80th minute. On Sunday, in Atlanta, though, they never looked threatening 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 had demonstrated some good link-up play but that they had run into a “very powerful” Spanish side.

Looking ahead to Cape Verde, Donis said he was confident his team would rediscover their potential.

“We will come back to the level … where we’ll be very competitive,” Donis said.

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AP World Cup: https://apnews.com/fifa-world-cup