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The Children of the Desert appear as one of the great Asian powers and surely the most outstanding Arab national team. With three continental titles under his belt, he is a sleeping giant: he has not achieved success since the 1996 Asian Cup. Saudi Arabia has a relatively modern national team, having played its first World Cup in 1994, the only time it passed the first round. Four Argentine coaches were able to experiment with the Saudis: Jorge Solari, Gabriel Calderón, Edgardo Bauza and Juan Antonio Pizzi.
The World Cup draw ruled that the Saudis will stop in Pool C, along with Argentina, Mexico and Poland. They will be precisely the first opponents of the cast of Lionel Scaloni: the match will be on Tuesday, November 22 at the Lusail Stadium.
THE HISTORY OF THE GREEN HAWKS
Despite having recorded his first international match in 1957 (3-1 victory over Syria), the Saudi Arabian national team settled in the world of football in 1984, when he played his first Asian Cup with an extraordinary performance: he led his zone in the first round, eliminated Iran on penalties for the semifinals and defeated China 2-0 in the final, in Singapore. And the glory would be repeated in the next continental competition, when it was again the leader in its area, eliminated Iran in regulation time for the semis and consecrated in penalties against South Korea, in Doha (1988).
He was close to the three-time championship in Japan in 1992, the year in which he played the Copa Rey Fahd (Confederations Cup in which he fell in the final against Alfio Basile's Argentina), but ultimately lost to the owner of the house. The rematch would be close: in 96 he climbed to the top of the podium after beating the host United Arab Emirates in the penalty shootout. That award led him to be in the first historical ranking alongside Iran, until the Japanese broke onto the scene with the titles of 2000, 2004 and 2011, which was added to that of 92.
JORGE SOLARI, THE FIRST ARGENTINE DT IN SAUDI TERRITORY
Before the World Cup in United States 94, the Saudi Arabian ambassador visited then-president Carlos Saúl Menem at the Casa Rosada and told him that the national team needed a coach. The man from La Rioja told him that he would get him the best in Argentina. Carlos Bilardo, who came from the title of Mexico 86 and the runner-up in Italy 90, rejected the proposal. And a friend of the Indian who was part of Menem's custody recommended it. This was Solari's landing on Arab soil.
The premiere of the Children of the Desert in world cups was successful: I stumbled against Holland (1-2) and triumphs against Morocco (2-1) and Belgium (1-0) to reach the round of 16 as second in the zone. In the knockout phase they ran into Sweden, who had left their group unharmed with Brazil: the Scandinavians won 3-1 (then beat Romania that had eliminated Argentina in the quarterfinals, they would lose in semis to the Brazilians and beat Bulgaria 4-0 in the match for third and fourth place).
Despite the good performance, the Argentine strategist was fired. He told the episode in an interview with Infobae: “I left because the King wanted me to play a striker who was not in a position to play. He lacked speed and was 40 years old. They wanted to impose a player and we ignored them. We used the one we thought was fit and died with ours. They never called me again, even though they didn't repeat a campaign like ours.”
AN UNUSUAL FACT: THEY KICKED OUT A COACH IN THE MIDDLE OF THE WORLD CUP
From 94 to 98, five coaches walked the bench (Saudi Mohammed Al-Kharashy, Brazilian Zé Mario, Portuguese Nelo Vingada, Austrian Hansel Waldem and German Otto Pfiser) before the appointment of Carlos Alberto Parreira, who would star in one of the most scandalous episodes in World Cup history. The Carioca led the team in the first two matches of the French World Cup, but was dismissed after the two defeats were completed (1-0 against Denmark and 4-0 against France, ultimately champion).
The Saudi Arabian royal family met six hours at a hotel in Bordeaux with the Brazilian coach and informed him of the unwavering decision to cancel his contract. They even attended the rally under the name of their replacement: Mohammed Al-Kharashy, who had started the process following Solari's departure. The Greens were close to beating South Africa in the third match for Group C, but in stoppage time the Africans scored the final 2-2.
THE CATWALK OF ARGENTINE TECHNICIANS AND NEWS
In addition to the frustration of 98 were those of Korea-Japan 2002 and Germany 2006. In the first World Cup played on Asian soil he was beaten 8-0 by Germany in his debut, while he later fell to Cameroon and Ireland. On European soil it started with a draw against Tunisia, but it perished against Ukraine (0-4) and Spain (0-1). The Argentine Gabriel Calderón was the one who had headed to the World Cup in the Qualifiers, although before the start he was fired to give the coach diver to Brazilian Marcos Paquetá.
On the way to South Africa in 2010, he placed third in his area behind South Korea and North Korea (he had worse goal difference than the latter) and after two matches in the continental playoff against Bahrain, he was hurt by the away goal difference in stoppage time (if he triumphed, he would have won the final playoff against Australia). The qualifying round for Brazil 2014 was the worst ever recorded: just one win against Thailand to be eliminated before the final round.
Dutchman Bert van Marwijk led the team to the qualifying for Russia 2018, but when the goal was accomplished he was cast to make place for Edgardo Bauza, who had just been replaced by Jorge Sampaoli from the Argentine team. El Patón lasted only three matches: they fired him because “he didn't like the way he trained”. Croatia's Krunoslav Jurčić took the reins as interim but the World Cup was Juan Antonio Pizzi, who remained in office despite the premature elimination (5-0 win against the host, 1-0 fall to Uruguay and 2-1 win to Egypt).
Frenchman Hervé Renard, without large scrolls as a footballer but with experiences in several clubs in addition to four teams (Zambia, Angola, Ivory Coast and Morocco), took over the Saudi national team in 2019 and sealed the ticket to Qatar 2022. The Arabs ended up undefeated in the first phase above the line of Uzbekistan, Palestine, Singapore and Yemen. The good performance was maintained in the next round, in which he again led Group B, leaving Japan in second place for the last victory against Australia, which came third.
The peculiarity of the Children of the Desert is that all its components play in domestic football. Among his figures are Salem Al-Dawsari, the top scorer in the qualifying round with Saleh Al-Shehri with 7 goals (both playing in Al-Hilal), Fahad Al Muwallad (Al-Ittihad) and the 21-year-old promising Firas Al-Buraikan, who plays in Al-Fateh.
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