Abdullah Aleisa from Saudi Arabia joins us for part 19 of the series. Abdullah is from Riyadh, the capital of Saudi Arabia. In his own words, he is “a Saudi national team fan who cares alot about the National Team, and I hope the best for my national team. I am counting the days till we play our first game against Tunisia, June 14, and think of this WC as a to be or not to be situation for Saudi Arabia.”

I thank Abdullah for agreeing to the interview. Over to the interview:

Tell us a bit about Saudi Arabia’s football history and the football culture which exists.

Saudi Arabia football history is short compared to others. It began in the 50s, and soon by 1959 there was a Saudi Football Federation. But it took 10 years, around 1970 to actually begin growing. At that time, the NT was rather weak, got easily smashed by other Arab teams, which is nothing like present-day Saudi Arabian team. In the 70s, many young boys took interest into football, and soon it turned into a normal activity, which boys would do after school. In the 70s, there was a league, but it was mostly derby games that were important. They were Hilal x Nasr, from Riyadh, and Ittihad x Ahli from Jeddah. There were some other young derbies from other cities too. By 1980, Saudi football was able to pump out some very good players.

Majed Abdullah, Muhaysen AlJumaan, Ahmed Jameel, Abdullah AlDeayea, etc were the stars of the 80s. Saudi Arabia soon came out from a nobody team, to an important team in the 80s, as they won there first cup, the Asian Cup in the 1984. Soon Saudi Arabia qualified to 1986 Olympics, and also 1988 Asian Cup came and it soon became Saudi too. 1990 Asian Cup came, and as usual the Green Falcons reached the finals. Unfortunately, they were stopped by the Japanese 1-0, who were hosting that cup. Then in 1994, the historical year for all Saudis came, as we finally were able to reach the WC. (Suprisingly, being the Asian Champions twice, it is rather weird we couldn’t qualify to a whole later time.)

Reaching the 2nd round on the first time, and scoring the 6th best goal in the history of the WC, thanks to Saeed’s unbelievable dribbling from more than half the field against Belgium. 1994 Gulf Cup, and it became the first Gulf Cup Saudi won, even though it was being played since the 60s. 1996 AC was also Saudi, as we won by penalties against hosts UAE. 1998, and another qualification, but Saudis were stopped by France and Denmark, and ended with a tie to South Africa. In 2000 Asian cup in Lebanon, we were again stopped by Japan, 1-0, in the final. By 2001, we had hosted the Gulf Cup, and won. Expectations were high as we were grouped with Germany, who had a tough time to reach the WC. But the players took the preparations a bit easy, and were taught a tough lesson as we ended losing badly in all our games.

Tell us a bit about the Road to the World Cup – the qualification, and the emotions the fans went through at the time.

We were grouped with Turkmenistan, Sri Lanka, and Indonesia. A easy group, we ended up with winning all our games, and only condeding one goal. The 2nd round, which was the real deal, we were grouped with Uzbekistan, Kuwait, and South Korea. Many teams, after the 2002, Gulf Cup 2004, and AC 2004 failures, began to expect wins against us. Our first game in Febuary, against Uzbekistan away, was tough. Uzbekistan had beaten us 1-0 in the AC. Playing against them away in the snow, was even tougher. We suprised them by scoring the first goal in the 70th minute, thanks to Sami AlJaber. But in the last 13 seconds, with a defense error, they equalised. Most thoughs of the NT was ok after that score.

Next up was South Korea, but at home. Before the game, we lost two friendlies, Egypt 1-0, and Finland 4-1, all at home. We were shocked, and feared we would lose against South Korea. South Koreans underestimized us so much, that some thought they would win 8-0, let alone others who thought they could easily win. But as usual, the Green Falcons proved there worth, as Saoud Kariri, and Yaser AlQahtani gave us a 2-0 win. South Koreans left daring us to even tie in Seoul. The next game, was against our sworn Gulf rivals, Kuwait. They were going through hard times, but against our NT, they do there entire best to beat us. The game in Kuwait ended 0-0. By June, two games in a week, but at our home, Riyadh, arrived.

The media demanded fans to attend the game, in the King Fahd Stadium, which hosts 70,000 fans. In the game against Kuwait, the 70,000 fans cheered on as Saudi Arabia smashed Kuwait, 3-0. Thanks to Mohammed Shalhoub (2), and Saed AlHarthi. 5 days later we then faced Uzbekistan in Riyadh. Same scenario, an early goal from Sami AlJaber, and in the 2nd half a shot from Sami to score the 2nd goal. Then Saed comes in and finishes it with a nice header at the end of the game, to make us win 3-0 and reach the WC. A game in August against South Korea which was to determine 1st place, we played them with out B team, and won them even though they had almost all there stars, 1-0 thanks to Mohammed Anbar’s early header.

What style of football does the national team play?

We usually play a offensive style, but since we will be facing tough teams in the WC, we will be mostly concentrating on improving our defense.

How do you think your country will fare at the World Cup?

I hope we reach the 2nd round, but I expect we end up with a 3rd place, but only by goal difference or one point from the 2nd place.

Who will be the most important player for your country and why?

We don’t have a real star player, but Nawaf AlTemyat is a real good player who always plays good. Until now in our friendlies, he scored 2 goals, one against Ghana and another against Iraq. He is a great player who can easily dribble through the defense. He also has a strong foot and also accurate. He is an offensive midfielder, and he is one of the most politeness players in Saudi Arabia.

Which player in your country’s side would you most like to get rid of?

No one in particular, but we do have some players that snooze from time to time, like Sami AlJaber, and Mohammed Nour. They are good, but they always seem to be inconsistent with the national team. Not that I want to get rid of them.

Who are the players to watch from the other countries?

Ronaldo from Brazil, he is a dangerous striker, and he will definately want to prove himself again in Germany. The opponents better be careful of him.

What will be your excuse in the event of failure?

I will blame the Saudi FA, for not keeping a coach for a long time.

Have you got the right manager?

I hope so, he seems good, but I’m afraid he and the players will just collapse in the WC.

What advice would you give him?

To be confident, and make the players excited before the game, and concentrate during the few weeks before the WC and during the WC.

Which team do you most want to beat?

Tunisia, Ukraine and Spain. They all think we are an easy team, but I hope our players will prove that we are there biggest nightmare for them.

Where will you watch the matches?

With my friends in Riyadh, or in a cafe in Riyadh.

How keenly will the World Cup be followed in your country?

In Saudi Arabia, public channels don’t show the games. Only private channels, but they are expensive. So most go to friends who have it, or to cafes that show it and are alot in the streets. The cafes will be filled with people, during the Portugal x Saudi Arabia friendly in March, all the cafes were filled, and everyone was watching it, so what about a World Cup match, it will definately not be missed for a Saudi person.

Who will be the player of the tournament?

I expect Ronaldinho, he is an excellent player.

Who will win the Golden Boot?

Ronaldo, he did it the last time, and since this is expected to be the last WC for him, he will definately work the hardest in the field.

Which team will disappoint the most?

Argentina, they are an excellent team, but with Holland, Serbia, and Cote d’Ivoire they will be in a hard position, and with all the pressure on them as they are demanded to qualify after the bad WC last time.

Who will be the surprise team of the tournament?

They are 8 new comers, so the chance of a suprise team is high. I expect Serbia and Ukraine (If they beat our team to qualifying to the 2nd round) since they did well in the qualifications.

Finally, Who will win the World Cup?

Brazil… not. They can’t always win the World Cup, I think its Italy or France. Both will be more determined than other world class teams due to there failures in the last cup. Both are talented and have experienced players. Between them I think its Italy.

***
I hope you enjoyed part 19. Follow up questions for Abdullah can be e-mailed to me. Also, feel free to contact me if you would like to be interviewed or know a friend who would like/could be interviewed. Specific questions for specific countries which might pop in your mind in due course may also be sent.

For the rest of the interviews, check out the World Cup interview series page.

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