UAE’s Mansoor Al-Mansoori prepares for tight finale of Jet Ski World Championship

Dubai: On November 22, Saudi Arabia will take on Argentina in the opening match of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar. That is Lionel Messi’s Argentina. It’s easy for players to look at the world’s greatest footballer with awe (not dislocation) in awe.

While facing two-time world champions and Messi is still an honour, Saudi Arabia’s France coach Huff Reynard is unlikely to let his players think about anything other than a result at the Lussel Stadium .

Now is not the time for low self-esteem for Saudi Arabia.

Like Russia 2018, the first World Cup to be held on Arab soil will feature a record four Arab nations.

The presence of (hosts) Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Morocco and Tunisia is as much a culture as it is a sport.

While tens of thousands of fans will flock to Doha from all over the world, support for Arab teams will no longer be limited to a few flags scattered around the stadium, as has often happened at previous games.

Qatar is home to a large Arab community, many of whom are from countries that did not qualify for the World Cup but are expected to support their competing neighbours, while thousands more are expected to travel from nearby countries, or a slightly longer one in North Africa. .

Arab teams should, perhaps for the first time ever, be in the spotlight at the World Cup. More than ever, Arab players have real star power.

Qatar, the reigning Asian champions, is made up of players who have been training for this tournament from a very young age, through the Aspire Academy and age-group teams to achieve the ultimate goal.

The world’s media, some not always with good intentions, may censor their every move and performance in unprecedented ways.

In Al-Hilal’s trio – Salman Al-Faraj, Salem Al-Dawsari and Yasser Al-Shahrani – Saudi Arabia will have three of Asia’s best players, as they did in the club’s recent AFC Champions League victory leadership role in.

Meanwhile, Morocco and Tunisia have for years had teams backed by stars who played in some of Europe’s top leagues and were well known to fans around the world.

It’s a far cry from some of the earlier World Cups that Arab nations have played in, which have been greeted with almost unabashed condescension by pundits and commentators.

The UAE players who participated in the 1990 World Cup in Italy spoke of the complete lack of understanding of the UAE by foreign journalists at that time.

Often, teams don’t do themselves any favors either, as in Kuwait in 1982 and Iraq four years later. On the field, off the field, those days should be a thing of the past.

Since the first World Cup was held in 1930, only eight Arab teams have reached the World Cup finals: Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, Algeria, Kuwait, Iraq, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

Notably, Saudi Arabia remains the last Arab country to make a World Cup debut before the hosts face Ecuador in Qatar’s 2022 opening match on November 20. Since the Green Falcons qualified at the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States, no new team in the region has been able to qualify.

This means that for the past three decades, the Arab world has had to rely on the same countries to carry their hopes. Saudi Arabia has played in four more matches since its debut, while North African trio Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia regularly qualify for the African Union finals.

The four countries – despite Algeria being knocked out – no longer dream of qualifying, but look forward to it.

With that comes, or should come, the responsibility to perform at a consistently higher level — and to win. The freshness of rubbing shoulders with the best people in the world isn’t enough anymore.

When Saudi Arabia takes on Messi and his team at the World Cup, it’s no surprise that their odds will grow.

But then again, on June 29, 1994, at RFK Stadium in Washington, D.C., the same was true when they reached the knockout stage in their first World Cup. The bad news is that its opponent is a strong Belgian team.

What happens next will go down as one of the country’s greatest sporting moments, and certainly the most iconic.

Just five minutes into the game, Saudi Arabia’s No. 10 Syed al-Ovilan caught the ball deep in his own half and started a sensational run that smashed the Belgian defence. The ball was then shot through the advancing goalkeeper Michel Preud’homme. .

It immediately became one of the most spectacular goals in World Cup history, notable for Diego Maradona’s legendary run and finish against England in Mexico in 1986, and Roberto Baggio’s in 1990 Excellent individual effort for hosts Italy against Czechoslovakia.

Al-Owairan’s magic moment was enough to secure a famous 1-0 victory for Saudi Arabia and qualify for the round of 16, where they lost 3-1 to eventual semi-finalists Sweden after a heroic effort in the midday heat in Dallas.

Saudi Arabia couldn’t have been better at the World Cup, although it has followed four times, the last being four years ago.

That’s what Leonard and his players hope to solve in Qatar.

The Arab nations of Africa have also been involved in memorable World Cup moments, although they often end in heartbreak.

In 1978, under the leadership of legendary coach Abdelmajid Chetali and brilliant talent Tarek Diab, Tunisia beat defending CONCACAF Gold Cup champions Mexico 3-1 in Argentina’s World Cup debut.

This is the first time an Arab country has won in the final.

The Carthage Eagles even drew 0-0 with defending World Cup champions West Germany, but Tunisia’s golden generation missed out on qualifying for the quarter-finals.

Four years later in Spain, Algeria delivered one of the biggest ever World Cup shocks with a 2-1 victory over the mighty West Germans in Gijon, a result that left European players and coaches with a dismayed attitude to African players. Respect is sweeter. opponents a few days before the game.

But Algeria’s participation will come to an end in contentious circumstances, with West Germany (only) beating Austria 1-0 in the infamous “Shame of Gijon” match, ensuring that European neighbours gain at the expense of the Arab states qualified for the competition.

The fallout from the scandal led to a rule that the final group matches would start at the same time to avoid future collusion. That’s no consolation for the desert warriors, who still go home as heroes.

But one wonders how such a blatant act of gaming skill would play out today amid blankets, relentless coverage and an army of social media users waiting to pounce.

Then came Morocco’s second World Cup in Mexico in 1986. After being placed in the “group of death” along with England, Poland and Portugal, the Atlas Lions stormed to the top of the group with a stunning 3-1 victory over Portugal in their last game.

In the round of 16, Morocco went head-to-head with finalists West Germany, but was beaten by Lothar Matthaus. Another story so close yet so far away for an Arab country.

The weight of this history can be paralyzing, but the Arab quartet has a chance to change the narrative and make their fans proud in Qatar.

And what do these fans want? What all the other supporters in the world want: goals, wins and football to be proud of. Stop making excuses.