Preview

A day after the other four final group stage contestants had completed their third fixtures of the series, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia came head to head in a rain-sodden national stadium in Singapore. In their previous outing, UAE had scored two very late goals to turn a losing scoreline into an impressive 2-1 win against a decent Chinese team, while the Saudis had conceded late and drawn 1-1 with fellow Arabic outfit Qatar to earn their first point in the final stage of the World Cup qualification. There was the added spice of Mário Zagallo coming up against fellow Brazilian head coach Carlos Alberto Parreira, with both managers having previously been in charge of the opposition. 

The round robin competition was already turning into a tight affair with few goals scored and a number of drawn matches, so any win would mean a boost and propel a team up the table. 

Due to some incessant rain, the start of the game was delayed for about an hour, though the playing surface had taken a battering, making conditions difficult for both sides. Puddles of water were visible in various parts of the pitch.

Pos	Team	Pl	W	D	L	GF	GA	Pts
1	South Korea	3	2	1	0	2	0	5
2	United Arab Emirates	2	1	1	0	2	1	3
3	North Korea	3	1	1	1	2	1	3
4	China	3	1	0	2	3	4	2
5	Qatar	3	0	2	1	1	3	2
6	Saudi Arabia	2	0	1	1	2	3	1

There was plenty of money in Saudi football, and they had beforehand been touted as one of the favourites to progress through to their first ever World Cup. Thus, a single point in return from their opening two matches had been considered below par, and this was more or less their make or break game. Incidentally, United Arab Emirates had done the same trick on China which the Chinese had performed on Saudi Arabia, namely recovering from a 1-0 deficit to win 2-1. Should UAE avoid defeat here, they would look in good stead for World Cup participation. There was plenty at stake, and anything but a win for the Saudis would go a long way in condemning them to watch Italia ’90 from home. It should be noted that they had available again after a three match suspension midfielder-cum-forward Yousuf Al-Thunayan. He’d punched an opponent during their scoreless draw in Syria back in March. 

United Arab Emirates make two changes from the impressive 2-1 win against the Chinese, with Ghuloum and Al-Hadiyah replaced by Al-Shaibani and Juma’a respectively. Saudi Arabia have also made two changes since their most recent outing, the 1-1 draw with Qatar, relegating goalscorer Al-Suraiti to the substitutes’ bench. There is also no Al-Bishi, their goalscorer from the opening day loss against China. Al-Thunayan and Bakhashwain are in instead. 

The two teams had last met in a telling match in the Gulf Cup a year and a half earlier, when their encounter on Saudi soil had finished in a 2-2 draw. 

Referee was Italy born American citizen Vincent Mauro, aged 45. He had refereed a solitary game during the 1988 Olympic Games football tournament, and also officiated at the 1987 U20 World Championship in Chile. Furthermore, Mauro had officiated at the 1988 Asian Cup, where he’d been in charge of Saudi Arabia’s group stage draw with Bahrain as one of his three matches as referee in that competition. His linesmen here in Singapore were also experienced gentlemen, with both Yugoslav Zoran Petrović and Japanese Toshikazu Sano having appeared at international competitions (obviously as referees themselves). Petrović’ most high profile appearance had come in the quarter-finals at Mexico ’86, when he’d been in charge of the hosts’ penalties loss against later finalists West Germany. 

United Arab Emirates (4-4-2)

Player	Notes	Age	Club
17 Muhsin Musabah Faraj		25
2 Khalil Ghanim Mubarak		24
3 Ali Thani Juma’a		21
4 Mubarak Ghanim Mubarak (c)		26
6 Abdulrahman Mohamed Abdullaham	first half	26
10 Adnan Al-Talyani		24
13 Hassan Mohamed Al-Shaibani		27
14 Nasir Khamees Mubarak		24
15 Ibrahim Meer	first half	22
16 Abdul Razaq Ibrahim	sub 84′	22
20 Mohamed Obaid Al-Zahiri		22

Substitutes
9
18 Fahad Abdulrahman Abdullah	on 84′	27
19

Manager: Mário Zagallo

Saudi Arabia (4-3-3)

Player	Notes	Age	Club
22 Khaled Al-Sabiyani		26
2 Abdullah Saleh Al-Dosari		19
4 Ahmed Jamil Madani	first half	19
5 Saleh Mohammed Al-Nuaimah (c)		29
6 Saleh Al-Saleh		23
9 Majed Ahmed Abdullah Al-Mohammed	69′	30
10 Fahad Al-Musaibeah	sub h-t	28
11 Mohaisen Mubarak Al-Jam’an Al-Dosari		23
13 Mohamed Abd Al-Jawad		26
15 Yousuf Al-Thunayan		25
20 Omar Bakhashwain	sub 66′	27

Substitutes
18 Sadoun Al-Suraiti	on h-t	19
19 Mohammed Swayed Mahbob Al-Shahrani	on 66′	25

Manager: Carlos Alberto Parreira

Tactical line-ups

Match report

First half: 

We are equipped with around 47 minutes of action from this game, of which just over 14 stem from the first half, and a considerably larger portion from the final 45. 

Saudi Arabia kick off the first half through arguably their biggest star Majed Abdullah Al-Mohammed and Omar Bakhashwain. The tricky conditions are evident right from the first kick, with surface water making fluent passing nearly impossible, or at least very unpredictable. 

It is a very combative opening to the game, with firm challenges and some sliding tackles being issued, and United Arab Emirates’ midfield anchor man Abdulrahman is in the thick of the action. He’s seen scything down Al-Musaibeah as the Saudis’ left-sided midfield man attempts to make inroads along the channel, giving his opponent a thorough battering, but no action taken by the referee. It doesn’t take long until he has his name taken by Mr Mauro, though, as his second fierce tackle knocks the stuffing out of Mohaisen Al-Jam’an Al-Dosari, Saudi Arabia’s left-sided attacker. It was a clear message for Abdulrahman to calm down. 

The Saudis look the more expansive in the early stages, as they keep UAE pinned back in their own half for prolongued spells. It makes sense, as the team clad in all white need the two points more than their opponents do. Despite the difficult conditions, they manage to interpass and make use of the pitch’ width, working the ball favourably into decent areas. The final ball is lacking in quality, though, and so UAE goalkeeper Musabah isn’t called into any severe action. 

Head coach Parreira has set his team up in an attacking formation, where they rely heavily on their back four, with two teenagers in its ranks, to deal with the threat of the two United Arab Emirates forwards more or less singlehandedly. Experienced captain and libero Al-Nuaimah is invaluable alongside 19 year old Madani at the heart of their defence. The latter is in no way intimidated, though, and shows his commitment and ability to enter battle, earning a yellow card of his own after a big challenge on Juma’a on the ground. To Madani’s left is full-back Al-Jawad, who to some extent is involved in build-up play, as they are seen mounting from their left hand side more often than the right, where the full-back is another 19 year old in Abdullah Al-Dosari. 

Saleh Al-Saleh is the deep-lying midfielder in the Saudi team, and with the game still in its early phase, he’s mostly picking the ball off his centre-backs and spreading it wide, so we’ve yet to see his ability in combat. Their two inside midfielders ahead of Al-Saleh are Yousuf Al-Thunayan to the right and Fahad Al-Musaibeah to the left. It is particularly the latter who seems comfortable in possession, seemingly equipped with a fine left foot. Al-Thunayan co-exists more or less with right-sided forward Omar Bakhashwain, and together they attempt to make life difficult for UAE’s left-back Meer. The latter will have his name taken as the third player to earn a first half yellow card, although we’re not quite aware of why. 

The Saudis are capable of going direct, and when they make use of the high ball, it is typically aimed in the direction of centre-forward Majed Abdullah Al-Mohammed, who has been their major star throughout the 80s, when they’ve won the Asian championship twice in succession and qualified for the 1984 Olympic Games football tournament. Nicknamed ‘the Arab Pelé’, the 30 year old has both physicality and the ability to make use of his fine close control, so the challenge faced by the pair of UAE central defenders is a high level one. Al-Mohammed has two rather speedy wide forwards around him in Bakhashwain to the right and Al-Jam’an Al-Dosari to his left. The latter has more frequently been involved, as they often seek to attack along their left hand channel. 

There is a controversial moment when the referee decides to chalk off a goal scored by United Arab Emirates’ Juma’a, who had seemingly chested the ball into the back of the net after Abdulrahman’s free-kick from the right hand side had found central defender Khalil Ghanim at the back post. His header back in had reached Juma’a, but Mr Mauro had clearly felt that the striker had made contact with his arm, and so the goal was disallowed. It seems a dubious call when watching the replay from behind the goal, although the Saudi defenders were quick to point out that Juma’a had indeed made use of his arm, possibly after it had come off his chest. 

While a selected highlights reel can’t entirely be trusted to reflect correctly the course of 45 minutes, there is at least an indication that Saudi Arabia boss portions of the first half. They appear to be more on the front foot than their UAE opponents, even if creativity remains elusive. There were a number of tough challenges, a couple of which were a bit over the top, and especially UAE’s Abdulrahman had been dishing out some beatings. For the Saudi’s, young centre-back Madani was among their most physical players. Battle was the key word through this first half reel. And desperate for their first win of the series, the Saudis were not shying away from anything. Senhor Parreira on the bench could be relatively pleased the way things were going, especially when United Arab Emirates had had that goal disallowed. 

Zagallo’s United Arab Emirates are in a slightly tilted 4-4-2 formation, and they appear to be content with sitting deep in two defensive blocks and looking to hit the Saudis on the counter. Not that their two forwards seem to be equipped with blistering pace, but there are times when the Saudis play with a high defensive line, and if precision matches ambition, there are certainly opportunities for UAE to get in behind. Their main threat is usually 24 year old Adnan Al-Talyani, but he seems a bit subdued during these first half clippings, possibly unsettled by the conditions. His forward partner on the occasion, 21 year old Ali Thani Juma’a, looks to endeavour to a larger extent, trying to draw centre-backs wide into the channels. 

United Arab Emirates have 25 year old Muhsin Musabah Faraj between the posts, and he’s rarely put to any serious tests during our minutes from the opening half, although he doesn’t always lend the most secure impression when he’s having to deal with set-pieces which are swung away from goal into the centre of the area. He could well be somewhat unorthodox, although his defenders provide a solid shield in front of his goal, never allowing him to be exposed. The two brothers at the heart of their defence, 26 year old Mubarak Ghanim Mubarak as the captain and natural leader, two years Khalil Ghanim Mubarak’s senior, are fierce competitors and sound in battle with the strong Majed Abdullah, while both full-backs, Mohamed Obaid Al-Zahiri to the right and the tough-tackling Ibrahim Meer along the left, both 22 years of age, concentrate on defending rather than darting forward. 

We’ve mentioned 26 year old sitting midfielder Abdulrahman Mohamed Abdullaham on a few occasions already, and his high visibility challenges brought him to the fore during the first half reel. He really put himself about with his physicality, despite not being the biggest in size. Abdulrahman seemed to relish the conditions as one of very few players out there, making use of the soaked pitch to perfect his sliding tackles. As the more creative force in midfield, 22 year old Abdul Razaq Ibrahim didn’t have a lot going for him before the half time break. There were few opportunities for transitions which were accepted on UAE’s behalf, and rather than Abdul Razaq, 24 year old Nasir Khamees Mubarak, appearing with a slight right-sided bias, would be seen breaking forward on a couple of occasions. Powerfully built, he wasn’t the easiest to deal with once he’d gathered speed. Less seen was their oldest player, 27 year old Hassan Mohamed Al-Shaibani, who operated their midfield’s left hand side. 

The Saudis’ only real goal threat came towards the end of our first half reel, when a cross from the deep right hand side was swung by Al-Thunayan in the direction of usual aerial target Abdullah Al-Mohammed, who didn’t really face much competition as he headed the ball onwards to wide left forward Al-Jam’an Al-Dosari, who struck it first time on the volley with his left foot, an effort which Musabah had to beat away on his near post. Al-Jam’an Al-Dosari connected well, but without any real power to threaten the goalkeeper, and UAE were awarded a free-kick in the following sequence to bail them out of a possibly difficult situation. 

Half-time score: United Arab Emirates 0, Saudi Arabia 0. 

Second half: 

For the start of the final 45, Saudi Arabia had reappeared without one of the three left-footed players along their left hand side: Midfielder Al-Musaibeah had been on the receiving end of a number of firm challenges from opposing players, and while he had been instrumental at attacking set-pieces, in particular swinging free-kicks into the area from the left hand side, he had been left behind for a third teenager in substitute Sadoun Al-Suraiti. United Arab Emirates were unchanged. Getting the second half started were strikers Al-Talyani and Juma’a. 

Saudi Arabia seize the early initiative once again, maintaining possession and mastering the watery conditions the better. They make decent use of the ball, players are alert and on the move, and United Arab Emirates can’t really get going. They have enough with keeping the opponents at bay, although it must be said that the Saudis can’t really engage their usually so strong centre-forward Abdullah Al-Mohammed. When young Al-Suraiti had come on, he took up a position as the inside right midfielder, which Al-Thunayan had held in the first half, but the latter had moved one step further forward and into the role which Bakhashwain had kept throughout the first half. He, in turn, had moved back into the inside left midfield position which the departed Al-Musaibeah had held in the first half. They seemed to thrive following these changes.

United Arab Emirates seem incapable of activating their flanks when going forward. Indeed, along the right, there is really only full-back Obaid who is keeping any sort of width, with Khamees much more involved towards central areas. To the left, full-back Meer is very restricted in any approach work, as his task is predominantly maintaining stability defensively. Ahead of him, though, is possibly the most anonymous figure hitherto, with Al-Shaibani not distinguishing himself in any way. Which are his most prosperous assets? Granted, he does stick to a wide position, but he seems to possess little pace and not a whole lot of trickery, and so gives the impression of someone who is there to provide assistance to his left-back. Al-Shaibani is left-footed, and can be seen swinging attacking set-pieces into the penalty area. 

Is there a shift in momentum gradually taking place as the second half progresses? Do the Emirates finally begin to find their footing, more figuratively than literally speaking in the tricky circumstances? They seem to come forward more in trying to unsettle the pair of inexperienced Saudi defenders in full-back Al-Dosari and the already cautioned Madani alongside the cultured Al-Nuaimah at the heart of the defence. On one occasion there does seem to be a slight lapse in concentration from the right-back, something which seems to let the workmanlike Juma’a in when Abdul Razaq attempts to tread him through. Al-Dosari, though, takes him out with a grizzly tackle, but is somehow spared a fourth booking of the game by the referee. 

UAE’s other striker, Adnan Al-Talyani, had in the first group stage during the World Cup qualification shown what he was capable of when he’d scored with a van Basten-esque effort from the right channel in Pakistan. He’d so far in this game not shown a whole lot, but he’d been allowed to step up and hit the free-kick from Al-Dosari’s foul on Juma’a. From 20 yards out, to the left of centre, he’d drawn a tip over the bar by goalkeeper Al-Sabiyani. The ‘keeper had it well covered, with the ball’s trajectory looking like it was headed for the crossbar. Down the other end in the transition which followed, the Saudis pressed United Arab Emirates goalkeeper Musabah into an error from Abdulrahman’s back pass, with Al-Jam’an Al-Dosari seizing on the ball, only to see his attempted shot or pass from near the byline roll parallel with the goalline only a yard out, with no one to capitalize. Some action at last. 

Saudi Arabia had made their second substitution around the midway point in the second half, withdrawing Bakhashwain for 25 year old Mohammed Swayed Al-Shahrani. It would look like he immediately slotted into the position left vacant by the man whom he replaced, but in the frantic couple of minutes which followed this was yet difficult to pinpoint. In the wake of that Saudi attack where the ball had traversed through the UAE six yard area, we hear commentator Peter Brackley switch focus to what has been happening out of the lense’s view. There’s a sending off for Saudi striker Abdullah Al-Mohammed, so on 69 minutes of play the Saudis are reduced to ten men, losing their ‘Pelé of the Arab world’ due to his apparently having punched United Arab Emirates skipper Mubarak Ghanim. The latter had been in close attention of Al-Mohammed throughout the game, but with little other than Eurosport’s commentator’s words to go by, we can just witness the consequences. After some medical attention, Ghanim is helped back on to his feet by the physios, while Al-Mohammed goes to sit down following his espulso. 

In the minutes after the red card incident, there is no upsurge in tempo. It also becomes evident how United Arab Emirates are content with a point from this fixture; the main thing is not to lose. Their focus is certainly on keeping a clean sheet, as they rarely commit several men forward at the same time. It is understandable, although against ten men Saudi Arabia you feel there could be a big reward for daring to be attacking. The Saudis, though a man short, continue to be on the front foot. At the back, their skipper Al-Nuaimah leads by example, as he and his central defensive partner Madani do not allow the pair of UAE forwards to excel. The seasoned pro that is Al-Nuaimah is the cultured among the pair, but he’s also sturdy in battle. 

In the Saudi ranks, one can see how Al-Thunayan and Al-Jam’an Al-Dosari remain forward, while the second substitute that was introduced, Al-Shahrani, now plays in an advanced, central midfield role, lending the two forwards support. Behind him are Al-Saleh and half-time substitute Al-Suraiti. Their 4-2-1-2 works well, but the UAE have been a disappointment in this game, second best for long spells. While Abdulrahman has been an inspiration in his midfield anchor role, even though he’d calmed down somewhat following that first half booking of his, players like Abdul Razaq and Khamees have failed to reach the desired level. By and large, their midfield has struggled to cope with the greater Saudi will. 

Timed at around 84 minutes, United Arab Emirates make their first change of the game, with Abdul Razaq trotting off to be replaced by 27 year old Fahad Abdulrahman Abdullah. The former had been joining in operations inside the opposition’s territory whenever UAE had been coming forward, but the substitution appears to make it evident just how much they treasure the single point which are theirs at the moment. Abdulrahman Abdullah slots in deeper in midfield, more or less alongside namesake Abdulrahman, and Zagallo harbours no intentions to try and nick a win against the ten men of Saudi Arabia. It is the boys clad in all white who are superior, despite their numerical disadvantage. 

The game fizzles out in a dull, scoreless draw. There is no great finale with either team going for it, as no late injection of pace or any enterprise takes place. Nil-nil fits a game of very few chances, although it should be said that the United Arab Emirates ‘goal’ which was disallowed during the opening half had looked like a dubious decision. 

Final score: United Arab Emirates 0, Saudi Arabia 0.