A great performance and a shocking result… 5 reasons behind Saudi Arabia’s defeat

The Saudi national team did not succeed in investing in the high morale it gained after beating Argentina 2-1 in its first match in the World Cup, only to lose in the second with a clean double against Poland.

The group’s accounts were complicated after the loss of Saudi Arabia, which fell to second place with 3 points, a point behind Poland, before the completion of the second round competitions in Group C of the World Cup, against Argentina and Mexico.

Why did Saudi Arabia lose?

• The Saudi green started the match brilliantly, intensified the offensive attempts and dominated the course of the match, while the Dutch team retreated, but Hervé Renard’s men did not succeed in taking advantage of their superiority that passed without scoring goals.
• The impulsiveness and excessive enthusiasm that appeared on the players of the Saudi national team, caused the first goal, as the team went out to the attack with an unjustified rush, to be subjected to a quick and dangerous counterattack, which resulted in the progress of the European team.

• Exhaustion appeared on the players of the Saudi national team after the first match against Argentina, during which the team consumed a large part of the physical stock, and the players fell throughout the match times on the field to receive treatment or catch a breath, a feature of the match.
• Missing the penalty kick that was awarded to the Saudi team before the end of the first half had a negative impact on the Al-Akhdar players, as the team was very disappointed after the tie was very close.
• The back line of the Saudi national team committed many defensive mistakes during the match, which caused 3 dangerous attempts, two of which ended with hitting the post and the crossbar, and the third was saved by goalkeeper Al Owais after Robert Lewandowski was alone.

The defensive mistake made by Saudi defender Abdullah Al-Ilah before the end of the second half, which resulted in the second match-killing goal for Poland, was the final whistle as Al-Akhdar’s resolve sank to its lowest levels and he began thinking about the next match directly.

The adventure that Hervé Renard undertook with continuous pressure and attack from the first minute, would have succeeded if Al-Akhdar had scored in the beginning, but it was unsuccessful due to wasting the opportunity to advance and receive a goal due to the lack of a good defensive position.

complicated situation

Saudi Arabia now needs to look at the results of the others in the group, and avoid defeat in the last match against Mexico, as it may qualify in the end by obtaining 4 points, and the best would be to achieve victory and reach the sixth point, to increase its chances of qualification.

• Saudi Arabia will play against Mexico next Wednesday at the end of the group competitions, in a meeting that has become fateful for Al-Akhdar to embark on a new epic similar to the one he presented against Argentina if he wanted to qualify.