Saudi Arabia: Are Juan Antonio Pizzi's squad under prepared for World Cup after failed La Liga experiment?
"They thought they would get more playing time. In the end it was quite a big jump for them to make from the Saudi league to La Liga."
Wednesday 6 June 2018 15:51, UK
In January, three of Saudi Arabia’s key players moved to Spain on loan as part of an agreement between La Liga, the General Sports Authority and the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. The deals were supposed to boost the country’s World Cup hopes but as Oliver Yew explains, things did not quite go to plan.
"The Saudi League does not have enough intensity to prepare players for a tournament like the World Cup. That is why players need to go overseas." That is the verdict of Sami Al-Jaber, who is widely regarded as one of Saudi Arabia's greatest players, playing at four World Cups and scoring at three of them.
A lack of experience at the highest level is certainly a well-known problem facing Juan Antonio Pizzi and his team The Green Falcons, who are 67th in the latest FIFA world rankings, have no World Cup experience in their squad and they also have a poor record in tournaments in recent years, failing to get beyond the early stages at the Asian Cup in 2011 and 2015.
"For the Saudi teams who have previously played in World Cups there has been an element of continuity," said Wael Jabir, managing editor of Middle Eastern football website Ahdaaf.me.
"They played in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006. They always had players who had experienced World Cups and also won Asian Cups but right now you don't have any of that. The last time they won the Asian Cup was in 1996 and there is only one player around who lost in the final to Iraq in 2007.
"There isn't a great deal of international experience in the squad and that's one of the perceived weaknesses."
There is no bigger stage than a World Cup and Saudi Arabia, who will take part in the finals for the first time since 2006, have the honour of becoming the first Asian team to play in the tournament when they face hosts Russia in the opener at the Luzhniki Stadium on Thursday, June 14.
The lack of top-class experience is certainly something the Saudi Arabian FA have tried to address. Nine players, including two academy players, were sent on loan to clubs in the top two tiers of Spanish football last January in a bid to aid their chances in Russia.
With the wages of the players paid by Saudi Arabia, there was no cost involved to the La Liga sides but it was clear they were also hoping to benefit from the agreement on the pitch. "The arrival of Saudi footballers in Spain comes after a rigorous scouting process," read a La Liga statement in January. "Spanish clubs have worked for months to capture the player which best fits their team and improves their squad."
Fahad Al-Muwallad, in particular, was given big billing following his loan move from Al-Ittihad to Levante with Fernando Sanz - the director of La Liga in the Middle East and North Africa - likening him to Cristiano Ronaldo and Lionel Messi. He said: "I have not tracked the players, but I can say that one example of a very good player is the one who has joined Levante - he is the Cristiano or Messi of Saudi Arabia."
However, alongside Salem Al-Dawsari and Yahya Al-Shehri, who moved to Villarreal and Leganes respectively, a lack of game time - 58 minutes in total - has left concerns that three key members of Pizzi's squad are underprepared.
"It's definitely a big concern," Jabir added. "Those fears have been allayed a little after Al-Muwallad and Al-Dawsari all got game time in the last week of La Liga.
"They've also had the pre-World Cup friendlies but in truth it's not enough. It remains to be seen how sharp they'll be in Russia."
This is not the first deal of its kind. In preparation for the 2022 World Cup, Qatar has used Aspire Academy to give some of its best players opportunities to play in Europe. China also recently sent an U20 team to become the last side in the fourth tier of the German football league system, although China only got through one match before cancelling the arrangement.
The lack of playing time for Al-Muwallad, Al-Dawsari and Al-Shehri has been a major talking point and while Jabir thinks we will see deals like this involving Saudi Arabia going forward, he insists important lessons have been learned by the country's football authorities.
It's a real honour for Saudi Arabia [to be in the opening game]. They may even fancy their chances of causing an upset because there will be plenty of pressure on the hosts to get the campaign off to a great start and that could play into Saudi Arabia's hands.
"They thought they would get more playing time," he said. "In the end it was quite a big jump for them to make from the Saudi league to LaLiga. If you compare that to what Qatar did when they sent players to the second division in Belgium. That gave them the time to develop slowly and understand how football works in Europe in a more relaxed environment than La Liga."
He added: "There have definitely been lessons learned. Even if no officials admit it was a mistake or say lessons have been learned, you will see it in terms of how they approach things next season or after the World Cup. We'll see things tweaked in a way that acknowledges those mistakes.
"We will see these types of deals again but I don't think it will be on the same level. There's already talk about next season and there is a plan to send younger players. The players they sent this time were at their peak and there has been an acknowledgement that it was not the best way to go about it, especially because they all went to top LaLiga teams. Going forward, what we will see is young Saudi players going to second division teams and working their way up."
