By Biodun Busari

Saudi Arabia also known as Green Falcons are going to Qatar in their sixth appearance at the World Cup out of 8 editions since their debut in USA 1994.

The quality of the squad lies in the fact that all the players are home-based talents in the Saudi Professional League with the majority of them playing at Al-Hilal and Al-Nassr.

They are seeded in group C with Argentina, Mexico and Poland and nobody would want to give them a chance but they could upset their opponents as they did 28 years ago in the US.

In their first participation at the Mundial, the Saudis beat Belgium and Morocco but lost to The Netherlands in their third match, albeit finishing second to advance to the round of 16.

They are bigwigs in the Asian football arena as champions in 1984, 1988 and 1996. They also lifted Arab Cup in 1998 and 2002.

The Saudi manager, Herve Renard has the capacity to go beyond the group stage by repeating the 1994 feat or surpassing it.

Players to watch out for:

Name: Salem Al-Dawsari

Position: Winger

Current club: Al-Hilal

Age: 31-year-old

The Saudi Arabian top player to watch out for is Al-Dawsari who plays as a winger and enjoys scoring effortlessly from the flank.

The 31-year-old forward netted seven goals in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. He has scored 17 goals for the team in his 67 appearances since he was called to the national team in 2011.

As a Hilal player, who has many of his teammates in the club side and national team, Al-Dawsari will be instrumental to Saudi Arabia in Qatar as a player who is outstanding individually and also understands how to partner with his team to dismantle defence.

In the last edition of the World Cup in Russia, Al-Dawsari scored a late winner on June 25, 2018, as his side won 2-1 in their group stage match against Egypt – the same feat he is very capable of replicating in Qatar.

Name: Salman Al-Faraj

Position: Midfielder

Curent club: Al-Hilal

Age: 33-year-old

Al-Faraj was called up to the national team in 2012 and he is the team’s skipper as one of the most experienced talents of the Arabian team going to Qatar. He has played 68 games and scored 8 goals for Saudi Arabia.

He has the wits to control the midfield as something he does for his club Al-Hilal week-in week-out having 211 caps and 17 goals. He is a central midfielder with accurate passing and dribbling skills.

He will be a potential danger in the group to wreak havoc on opposing teams like Poland and Mexico and as well as a threat to the Argentinian team.

Name: Yasser Al-Shahrani

Position: Defender

Current club: Al-Hilal

Age: 30-year-old

As a defender who can play as a left-back or centre-back, Al-Shahrani will give the opposing forwards a run for their money at the World Cup in Qatar.

He is an experienced defender that has been in the business of pocketing strikers and wingers for the past 10 years when he joined the Saudi Arabia national team in 2012. His ruggedness in marking the opponents has earned him 100% clean sheets in the recent stat released, a thing his opponents should be wary of.

Al-Shahrani has been capped for the national team 71 times scoring only 2 goals and also scored 8 goals for his club Al-Hilal in 221 appearances as a defender.

Name: Hervé Renard

Position: Manager

Age: 54-year-old

Having won two Africa Cup of Nations (AFCON) titles with two countries in the space of three years, Hervé Renard has earned himself some respect as one of the tactical football managers.

He won the AFCON trophy of the 2012 edition with the Zambia national team which was the first ever, and then repeated the same feat in 2015 for Ivory Coast after they had waited for 23 years, thus becoming the first coach to win AFCON titles for two African teams.

The 54-year-old French manager like in the past would fight to upset the opponents as he has in his quiver Arabian stars playing together on their home soil.

Renard was appointed in 2019 and has already made a statement not only for qualifying the Green Falcons for the World Cup but doing so as the foreign-born coach with the most wins (18) in Saudi Arabian football’s history.