LONDON: Saudi Arabia’s World Cup qualifier with Bahrain in Jeddah on Tuesday is just one out of 10 games for Roberto Mancini’s team in Group C but there is already a feeling that this is a must-win clash in more ways than one.
The first and biggest is that the Green Falcons need the points after a mixed start in the first three games of the third round of qualification. A 1-1 draw against Indonesia was followed by a 2-1 win over China in September.
And then, last week, Japan came to King Abdullah Sports City and went home with a 2-0 victory. As things stand, Saudi Arabia are third, level on four points with Australia in second, and Bahrain in fourth.
Only the top two qualify automatically for the World Cup while third and fourth advance to the next stage. Japan have nine and are surely heading for first place. Mancini admitted as such.
“We knew Japan were strong contenders to top the group, and now we will focus on competing with Australia for second place,” he said.
At this stage, the Italian will probably feel that his team are three points short. Mancini would have wanted and expected a win against Indonesia and a draw against Japan.
Had that been the case then they would have been three points clear of Australia. With the Socceroos playing in Japan on Tuesday and likely to lose, a win against Bahrain would have put Saudi Arabia six clear.
That would have been a fantastic position to be in but there is no point thinking too much about that now. The focus has to be on beating their neighbors and hoping they end Tuesday three points clear in second.
Mancini also needs a win and solid performance to lift the mood. Losing to Japan is no disgrace. The Samurai Blue are the best team in Asia by some distance, but their clear cohesion, identity and playing style was in contrast to that of Saudi Arabia’s.
Mancini, at just over a year in the job, has still to stamp his identity on the team and there are doubts as to whether he has the players really believing in his methods. Any sign of progress in this regard against Bahrain would be welcome.
Ever since the start of the year and the Asian Cup, there has not been much to shout about.
Before the tournament started Mancini dropped a bombshell. Veteran Salman Al-Faraj and Sultan Al-Ghannam were left out of the preliminary list, then goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi was excluded from the final squad.
The coach accused them of not wanting to play in friendly games. The Asian Cup ended at the last-16 stage with the boss leaving the pitch and heading down the tunnel before the penalty shootout against South Korea had ended.
It is fair to say that there has yet to be a really exciting, impressive or surprising performance under Mancini, the former English Premier League-, Serie A- and European Championship-winning coach.
His willingness to look outside the big clubs for talent and also trust in youth has been refreshing but he has complained on multiple occasions about the lack of playing time that several players are getting at their clubs.
“The only problem we have, three years ago all the Saudi players played every game,” he said. “Today, 50, 60 percent don’t play in the game and this is the only problem that we have.”
The coach has a point. There are players who have found themselves down the pecking order as their clubs have signed world-class foreign talent. This is especially evident at both ends of the pitch: goalkeepers and attackers.
Firas Al-Buraikan has been a regular for Al-Ahli and Abdullah Radif has played a reasonable amount for Al-Hilal, but Saleh Al-Shehri has had little time with Ittihad and Mohammed Maran has barely featured.
It is not ideal but it is what it is and Mancini’s job is to get the best out of what is available to him.
It has not happened yet. In three games, there have been three goals: one own goal and two set pieces. Against Japan, they played with an unfamiliar four-man defense, did not look like scoring and there were issues at the back but they were against a very good team.
Now this is Bahrain and fans will be less accepting of excuses.
Even so, Bahrain won in Australia in the opening game, sitting back to frustrate the Socceroos and then hitting on the counter, and that may well be their approach in Jeddah.
They later lost 5-0 at home to Japan and then needed a 99th-minute equalizer to draw 2-2 with Indonesia.
Compared to the passing and movement of the Samurai Blue, this is going to be a more physical test for Saudi Arabia and it should be one they are more suited to.
It has to be because one thing is for sure, this is a must-win game not just for the hopes of a top-two finish but for Mancini’s future in the job.
A scrappy 1-0 victory would be enough but a free-flowing performance and a convincing win would go down as well as the sun over the Red Sea.
