Saudi Arabia's FIFA World Cup dream back on track

Thu, 28 Oct, 2021

Saudi Arabia's FIFA World Cup dream back on track

Jeddah: Saudi Arabia completed the international break in ideal fashion as Bert van Marwijk’s team erased the memories of their defeat at the hands of Japan in November with consecutive wins that put their FIFA World Cup dreams back on track.

Yahya Al Shehri\u2019s fine second-half strike was enough to seal all three points against an Iraq team desperate for a win in a game that saw efforts from both teams cleared off the line as the Saudis kept pace with the Japanese at the summit.

Iraq's wide men remain on the flanks

Iraq went into this game knowing they needed a win to keep their own hopes of automatic qualification alive and their decision to line up in their usual 4-4-2 formation, with Ali Adnan supported from left back by Dhurgham Ismail and Ahmed Yasin helped out on the opposite flank by Alaa Mhawi, meant Radhi Shenaishil\u2019s team was always likely to be more dominant down the wings.

As a result, the Iraqis produced almost twice as many crosses \u2013 27 to Saudi Arabia\u2019s 15 \u2013 during the 90 minutes and had 12 attempts on goal compared to Saudi Arabia\u2019s six.

Saudi Arabia's forwards roam freely behind lone striker Al Sahlawi

Where the Saudis held the advantage, however, was in the central positions. With Al Shehri, Taisser Al Jassim and Nawaf Al Abed switching regularly behind lone striker Mohammad Al Sahlawi, Iraq were often outnumbered in central midfield.

That allowed van Marwijk\u2019s side to not only dominate the amount of possession \u2013 58.5 percent over the course of the game and well over 60 percent for the first hour \u2013 but also influenced where they had the ball, with the Saudis spending more time in the Iraqi half and having a significantly greater level of passing accuracy within the visitors\u2019 territory.

By having the extra man, the Saudis were able to create the kind of shooting opportunities from which Al Shehri scored the only goal.

The Al Nassr man surged forward to pick up a lay-off by Al Abed and, bursting into the space in front of the back four, he was able to unleash an unstoppable shot that gave the sprawling Mohammed Hamed little chance in the Iraq goal.

With the support of Salman Al Faraj and Abdulmalek Al Khaibri in front of the back four, the Saudis found a way to take the sting out of Iraq\u2019s talented wingers as van Marwijk\u2019s side fought their way to another three points on the Road to Russia.