World Cup ’94 : WORLD CUP USA ’94 / GROUP F PREVIEW : Soccer’s Jet Set : That Would Be Saudi Arabia, Which Is Still Flying High After Qualifying for the First Time
In its first World Cup appearance, the team from Saudi Arabia will feature many excited men hopping along the sidelines, waving arms, slapping backs, shouting instructions.
And that’s only the royal family.
The Saudi players? The way they look at it, after you’ve whipped Iran, what’s left?
After that momentous 4-3 qualifying victory in October, it might be a tad tough to get inspired for Belgium, Morocco and the Netherlands.
“For us, just making the World Cup was a major achievement,” said Adel Al-Jubeir, spokesman for the Saudi Embassy. “We have already met or exceeded most of the expectations for us.”
That won’t explain the 50 or so relatives of King Fahd who will attend Saudi Arabia’s first game June 20 against the Dutch in Washington.
“Your president gets involved in sports in this country, it’s the same thing with us,” Al-Jubeir said.
Not quite. The Saudi royalty will do more than crowd the sidelines and try to get into the game. Some of them even arrived here with the team three weeks ago.
This was evident when a member of the Saudi delegation phoned the bellman at the team’s New Jersey hotel . . . and ordered a jet.
The Saudis likely will fly home disappointed, even if they are riding first class.
The country has been taking soccer seriously for only 18 years. Its best international-style player, Majed Mohammed, nicknamed “Pele of the Desert,” is suffering from a back injury and recently missed seven consecutive games.
Not that the team misses him, but the Saudis have won only two of their last 10 games.
“People think we have no chance,” said Eduardo Solari, an assistant coach under brother Jorge. “Well, I think we have a chance against the Moroccans.”
The Solari brothers would have a better chance if they knew their players on a first-name basis. They have been coaching the team for only four months.
In a move that would have made George Steinbrenner blush, a couple of princes fired former Coach Jose Candido last year, only two days before the game against Iran.
Leo Beenhakker, a Dutchman, took over. But he lasted only four months before he was fired. Some said it was because the royal family was worried about him suffering mixed emotions in the World Cup opener.
Enter the Solari brothers, who were hired after King Fahd got their names from Argentine President Carlos Menem.
The team’s biggest advantage is its youth and the obvious: The midday heat will not bother them.
Also, as much as any other soccer team coming to America this month, they know they will be among friends.
“After everything that has happened, we know how Americans feel about us, and we love them too,” defender Muhammad Abdul Jawwad said. “We think they are cute.”
Then there is the bit about destiny. The Saudis have been in the line of so many bullets in recent years, they wonder if this World Cup isn’t a chance to show everybody that they have more than survived.
“We believe in our God, Allah, and our God says that if you work hard, you will get what you want,” Abdul Jawwad said.
And he wasn’t talking about airplanes.
