Master Chief
Trusted Member
Couple of personnel changes too. Yamal was the notable one for Spain.
FIFA World Cup 2026
- Thread starter ghazi52
- Start date
ShapurII
Trusted Member
I think Morocco is a level ahead of all other Muslim countries in football in the recent years. Egypt isn't even close to that level. Morocco is the only Muslim football team that deserves to go to Round 8 or even Round 4 in my opinion.
Persian Gulf
INT'L MOD
Egypt are not bad at all. They were outplaying Belgium for a lot of their match, it was a real 50/50 match.
PakAl
Elite Member
Against Brazil it looked like Morocco was playing like prime Brazil. The 18 years old midfielder looks great. Ayyoub Bouddadi.
ShapurII
Trusted Member
I didn't say they were bad, but they're not close to the level of Moroccan football at the moment.
_Arabia_
Trusted Member
He was fired once later to be rehired only to be fired again. We have had many such episodes in the past. In the past we used to joke that something is wrong if we are not having 2-3 different managerial changes within 1 year
. I don't know who runs our FA but they are incompetent people largely or highly impatient. They have tiny Qatar next door as an example of what to do in terms of long-term visions and patience.
Our fans, if things go bad, are also toxic and highly emotional. Like most other Arab teams.
The good news as I wrote earlier is that we have many talented youth teams that have won various Asian Cups (in their youth categories) and recently in the Maurice Revello (one of the most prestigious youth tournaments in the world) we not only qualified as one of the few teams and only Asian team afterJapan, we also defeated the likes of Colombia, Tunisia etc. We lacked 1 point to advance to the semifinals. Portugal later won that tournament.
The problem with this generation is that they are not fighting hard enough for the shirt, not good enough defensively. Our best teams of the past who won the Asian Cup several times and reached record number of finals in history (jointly with Japan) were famed for defensive discipline, great fight, never die attitude, technical skills, counter attacking, possession etc.
Now we have on paper good technical players, some very physical even, but they lack in terms of defensive tactics and they tend to panic too easily. As seen against Spain today.
Overall there are positives and negatives compared to the old guard.
If they bounce back and defeat Cape Verde, thus qualifying to the knockout stages, they will have done a good job. Rest is just a bonus.
But to truly excel before the World Cup in KSA in 2034, we need to copy all the best from fellow Arab states (Morocco and Qatar) as well as Jordan (they have done amazingly well lately and play some attractive, offensive and direct football) and learn from the best in Europe and South America.
Most importantly we need to stop pampering our players (I don't think that there are more pampered players in the world) and send/force our best players to go abroad to Europe like more and more of them have lately been doing.
PakAl
Elite Member
Turkey is the best one although not done well in terms of winning in this world cup, then Morocco and Egypt. Some of Turkish players are world class. Egypt great players like Salah are ageing.
_Arabia_
Trusted Member
Great player indeed. Not your usual footballer either. He is pursuing a maths degree.
Ayyoub Bouaddi Is an 18-Year-Old Maths Student Who Made Casemiro Chase Shadows
For ninety minutes against Brazil, one of the most decorated defensive midfielders of his generation could not get near the ball. Casemiro, a five-time Champions League winner who has spent a career breaking up play and bullying younger opponents, spent the evening chasing a shadow. The shadow...
But we have to be careful with players who perform in a World Cup across a few games. We have had Amrabat and Ounahi before who were hyped beyond belief later to not quite cut it at the highest level in Europe.
Not saying that Ayyoub Bouaddi will be that, to me he looks genuinely like the real deal, but there is always a risk of this happening.
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_Arabia_
Trusted Member
Speaking about Mancini. He openly criticized the FA. He spoke (correctly) about the problem that many Saudi Arabian players are not playing enough in the domestic league due to the influx of foreign stars and players from across the world. He complained a lot but the results were also bad before he was fired in October 2024.
He also behaved rather strange. For instance in our 16th round exist against South Korea in the Asian Cup (on penalties - a game we should have won in ordinary time - South Korea equalized in the last minutes) he just ventured down to the tunnel/dressing room before the penalty shootout was even completed. He got a lot of criticism for that, rightly so. There was also some tension with fans etc. He was fired after a draw with Bahrain.
Overall not a good match. Our current lot do need a more offensive manager. Renard was perfect for that. Instead the FA appointed another defensively oriented nobody. It is a joke.
We need to have a Spanish coach who can implement a possession based style which suits our players, football philosophy etc. the best. The fans do not want to see pragmatic defensive football.
A manager that can handle big egos and clear out the rotten/pampered attitudes and make them run.
As Guardiola rightly said, I can forgive them if they do not win but I cannot forgive them if they do not show initiative, fight or try at least.
Master Chief
Trusted Member
Wowwwww!!! Cape Verde!!!
Master Chief
Trusted Member
From out of nowhere. Defensive shambles by Uruguay. Never seen anything like this. Come on Cape Verde!
2-2.
2-2.
_Arabia_
Trusted Member
So far they are the surprise of this World Cup by far. Honestly, they are genuinely looking like a great well-drilled team with a great fight in them. Sure the XG so far is 1.93 Uruguay and 0.65 Cape Verde but somehow they are surviving and drawing.
Bad news for KSA. Now Cape Verde can sit back and defend and hold out for a draw. At the same time Uruguay and Spain can draw each other and Uruguay will have 3 points and Spain 4.
Anyway we are not going to win the World Cup anyway so **** it. 2030 and most importantly 2034 will be the most important World Cup when we will host it all. Before that the Asian Cup next year.
AZ_HighCountry
INT'L MOD
Almost 3-2 at the break. Offside reversed it.
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