Saudi Arabia have vowed to show they deserve to be at the World Cup as they look to rebound from their heavy opening-day defeat when they take on Uruguay on Wednesday.
The Gulf side, the tournament’s second lowest-ranked team, marked their return to the global finals for the first time in 12 years in incredibly disappointing fashion, losing 5-0 loss to hosts Russia in Moscow last Thursday.
As such, Saudi’s chances of progression, however unlikely, hinge on gleaning a result from their second Group A assignment, against Uruguay in Rostov-on-Don.
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More from 2018 World Cup:
John McAuley from Russia: Saudi Arabia v Uruguay talking points
Saudi Arabia's World Cup squad suffer scare as airplane has 'technical failure'
Saudi Arabia's players accused of only giving '5 per cent' in World Cup loss to Russia
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Manager Juan Antonio Pizzi needs a positive performance almost as much as his players, with both parties receiving significant criticism from government and football officials in Saudi Arabia, as well as Saudi supporters. Turki Al Sheikh, the head of the general Sports Authority, was one such critic, although he laid the blame at both his door and that of the players.
Asked about that in the pre-match press briefing on Tuesday, Pizzi said: “I really do not want to comment on what other people say. What I can say is that we are being very critical our ourselves. We are not happy with what we did in our first match.
“I’m the top person in charge here and in our mind we have the priority of trying to turn the tables around. We want to change the impression people have from the opening match. We are fully prepared to do that and we trust our ability play a great match tomorrow.
“We have an opportunity to try and turn around our result so far. And our performance which isn’t really in line with what we had expected and wanted. So we’re going to do our very best to win it to try and reach the same level of quality as our opponent and to demonstrate that we are in a position to play this match and win it.”
The defeat to Russia was Saudi’s second-heaviest at the World Cup, with only the 8-0 defeat to Germany – hosts that year, too - in 2006 a worse result. As group favourites, Uruguay will represent difficult opponents, especially since they arrive at the match on the back of Friday’s last-gasp 1-0 victory against Egypt.
“Undoubtedly tomorrow’s game will be very difficult,” midfielder Taiser Al Jassim said. “We have come out from a very difficult match and we as players have a responsibility towards our supporters and the Saudi people.
“We were not able to rise up to the expectations in the first match, but we hope that we will tomorrow. We were very sad because of the previous match, however tomorrow we have a chance to improve our image and we hope that tomorrow will be much more ready.
“The World Cup is usually is full of unexpected events. Football is full of unexpected events. Hopefully tomorrow we will exert our best efforts to show the Saudi people we are up to the standard expected of us.”
Saudi made headlines again on Monday when an engine on their plane caught fire upon arrival in Rostov-on-Don, although fortunately no one was injured.
“After the event yesterday, you’ve seen the pictures but we really don’t know anything else, we have no further information,” Pizzi said. “But we didn’t feel afraid, there was no panic. We fully trust the pilot and those in charge of the plane.
“So we were cool and calm at all times. Although the pictures do speak for themselves and point towards some emergency. But we certainly didn’t feel uncomfortable. And it certainly will not affect our performance tomorrow."
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Fight card
Preliminaries:
Nouredine Samir (UAE) v Sheroz Kholmirzav (UZB); Lucas Porst (SWE) v Ellis Barboza (GBR); Mouhmad Amine Alharar (MAR) v Mohammed Mardi (UAE); Ibrahim Bilal (UAE) v Spyro Besiri (GRE); Aslamjan Ortikov (UZB) v Joshua Ridgwell (GBR)
Main card:
Carlos Prates (BRA) v Dmitry Valent (BLR); Bobirjon Tagiev (UZB) v Valentin Thibaut (FRA); Arthur Meyer (FRA) v Hicham Moujtahid (BEL); Ines Es Salehy (BEL) v Myriame Djedidi (FRA); Craig Coakley (IRE) v Deniz Demirkapu (TUR); Artem Avanesov (ARM) v Badreddine Attif (MAR); Abdulvosid Buranov (RUS) v Akram Hamidi (FRA)
Title card:
Intercontinental Lightweight: Ilyass Habibali (UAE) v Angel Marquez (ESP)
Intercontinental Middleweight: Amine El Moatassime (UAE) v Francesco Iadanza (ITA)
Asian Featherweight: Zakaria El Jamari (UAE) v Phillip Delarmino (PHI)
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Fuel economy, combined 13.5L / 100km
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Artist: Coldplay
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Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Engine: 80 kWh four-wheel-drive
Transmission: eight-speed automatic
Power: 402bhp
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Starring: Alia Bhatt, Vedang Raina, Manoj Pahwa, Harsh Singh
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Transmission: Eight-speed auto
Fuel economy, combined: 6.5L/100km
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Name: Peter Dicce
Title: Assistant dean of students and director of athletics
Favourite sport: soccer
Favourite team: Bayern Munich
Favourite player: Franz Beckenbauer
Favourite activity in Abu Dhabi: scuba diving in the Northern Emirates
COMPANY PROFILE
Name: Almnssa
Started: August 2020
Founder: Areej Selmi
Based: Gaza
Sectors: Internet, e-commerce
Investments: Grants/private funding
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Name: HyperSpace
Started: 2020
Founders: Alexander Heller, Rama Allen and Desi Gonzalez
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Director: Edgar Wright
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Thanksgiving meals to try
World Cut Steakhouse, Habtoor Palace Hotel, Dubai. On Thursday evening, head chef Diego Solis will be serving a high-end sounding four-course meal that features chestnut veloute with smoked duck breast, turkey roulade accompanied by winter vegetables and foie gras and pecan pie, cranberry compote and popcorn ice cream.
Jones the Grocer, various locations across the UAE. Jones’s take-home holiday menu delivers on the favourites: whole roast turkeys, an array of accompaniments (duck fat roast potatoes, sausages wrapped in beef bacon, honey-glazed parsnips and carrots) and more, as well as festive food platters, canapes and both apple and pumpkin pies.
Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse, The Address Hotel, Dubai. This New Orleans-style restaurant is keen to take the stress out of entertaining, so until December 25 you can order a full seasonal meal from its Takeaway Turkey Feast menu, which features turkey, homemade gravy and a selection of sides – think green beans with almond flakes, roasted Brussels sprouts, sweet potato casserole and bread stuffing – to pick up and eat at home.
The Mattar Farm Kitchen, Dubai. From now until Christmas, Hattem Mattar and his team will be producing game- changing smoked turkeys that you can enjoy at home over the festive period.
Nolu’s, The Galleria Mall, Maryah Island Abu Dhabi. With much of the menu focused on a California inspired “farm to table” approach (with Afghani influence), it only seems right that Nolu’s will be serving their take on the Thanksgiving spread, with a brunch at the Downtown location from 12pm to 4pm on Friday.
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
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THE BIO: Martin Van Almsick
Hometown: Cologne, Germany
Family: Wife Hanan Ahmed and their three children, Marrah (23), Tibijan (19), Amon (13)
Favourite dessert: Umm Ali with dark camel milk chocolate flakes
Favourite hobby: Football
Breakfast routine: a tall glass of camel milk
UPI facts
More than 2.2 million Indian tourists arrived in UAE in 2023
More than 3.5 million Indians reside in UAE
Indian tourists can make purchases in UAE using rupee accounts in India through QR-code-based UPI real-time payment systems
Indian residents in UAE can use their non-resident NRO and NRE accounts held in Indian banks linked to a UAE mobile number for UPI transactions