Saudis Are Like Pastry in 1-0 Loss to the Danes
It was impossible to blame the media for Saudi Arabia’s 1-0 loss to Denmark in Lens on Friday--no sportswriter could have marked Marc Rieper more loosely than the Saudis did--but Carlos Alberto Parreira, the Saudi coach, had given it his best attempt.
A day before Saudi Arabia’s World Cup opener against the Danes, Parreira whipped up a commotion because 30 Danish journalists were staying in the same hotel as the Saudi delegation in Marcq en Baroeul, about 50 kilometers outside Lens.
“Their presence is sacrilegious,” Parreira ranted. “It’s unforgivable. Our team is right in the middle of its preparations.”
As if the Danish media were there on a spying mission.
As if there were anything to know about the Saudi Arabia soccer players other than:
1. Can’t defend.
2. Can’t head the ball.
3. Can’t put the ball past Peter Schmeichel if you gave them all summer.
The Saudis, a pleasant surprise in the World Cup of 1994 when they upset Morocco and Belgium to qualify for the second round, did nothing but spin their wheels for 90 minutes against a Denmark side that peaked many months ago--say, June, 1992, when the Danes won the European championship.
The remnants of that squad are just that, scant leftovers such as Schmeichel, the imposing, emotive goalkeeper; and the Laudrup brothers, Michael and Brian.
Yet those three were more than enough to dispatch Saudi Arabia. Schmeichel didn’t face much that could rightly be considered a threat, but he stopped whatever came his way. And in the 68th minute Brian Laudrup chipped a perfect cross into the box for Rieper, isolated six yards from the goal, for a clinical header past Saudi goalkeeper Mohammed Al Deayea into the back of the net.
Rieper, a hard-tackling fullback who plays professionally for the Scottish club team Celtic, isn’t often in such a position. Before Friday, he had scored only once in 53 appearances for the Danish national team.
“I’m really not worried about where the goals come from,” Rieper said, “as long as we get the three points [for a victory]. I’m just glad we kept a clean sheet.”
Saudi Arabia never really came close to scoring, putting only two shots on goal. The Saudis’ best opportunity came on a free kick by Saeed Owairan in the 43rd minute--a low, hard bullet that might have sailed just wide of the left post had Schmeichel not made absolutely certain by diving and punching the ball out of play.
Beyond that and a handful of squandered scoring chances by the Danes in the first half, the most notable thing about the match was that it made Lens the smallest city ever to host a World Cup game, and it marked Michael Laudrup’s 100th appearance for Denmark.
Lens, a town of 32,000 located in northern France, can fit its entire population--and then some--inside 35,000-seat Stade Felix-Bollaert, which was overflowing Friday.
“I’m happy today, as I know how important it is [to win] and it’s my 100th game,” Laudrup said. “It’s a perfect day.”
