MIAMI: For 80 minutes, with a storm brewing high above the Miami Stadium, it looked like lightning might strike twice.
Saudi Arabia, in the opening match of a World Cup and against blue-and-white-shirted South Americans once again, appeared destined to cause another shock, four years after their last.
At World Cup 2022 in Qatar, Saudi winger Salem Al-Dawsari wrote global headlines when his rocket proved the difference, delivering his Green Falcons a 2-1 win over Argentina to become the first — and, it would prove, only — team to defeat the eventual champions.
Images of jubilant Saudi supporters went viral as, having made the short trip across Qatar’s southern border in their masses, they repeatedly asked anybody who would listen: “Where is Messi? Where is Messi?”
This time, against Uruguay and far from the familiarity of the Arabian Gulf, they instead found themselves playing just 17 km from Lionel Messi’s luxury apartment on Sunny Isles Beach.
More than 70 percent of the little magician’s adopted new home city identifies as Hispanic or Latino, so it was no surprise the vast majority of the 62,764 fans crammed into the home of the Miami Dolphins were dressed in the sky-blue of La Celeste.
Aside from a noisy pocket of green flags and scarves, even most of the other green shirts dotted at random around the stands were, on closer inspection, discovered to be that of Mexico or Bolivia rather than the Kingdom.
The Saudi fans who had travelled — many from Riyadh and Jeddah, but others from Texas, New York, and Toronto — spoke with confidence pre-match. They promised that their country would emulate what they achieved the last time this tournament took place on North American soil, which is progress from their group.
A 1-1 draw certainly helps that quest, especially after Group H favorites Spain, the reigning European champions, were held by Cape Verde.
Although Uruguay dominated possession in the first half, Saudi had their chances and Abdulelah Al-Amri gave his country the lead four minutes from half time. The Al-Nassr defender pounced to poke home after Fernando Muslera had failed to hold Mohamed Kanno’s powerful header from a corner.
Al-Amri had stung Muslera’s palms with a half volley only minutes earlier, but the Green Falcons had their goalkeeper to thank after Mohamed Al-Owais made a series of smart saves to deny Federico Vinas, and later tipped Manuel Ugarte’s drive from distance onto the upright.
However, the AlUla stopper’s good work was undone when he fumbled a routine save 10 minutes from time to hand Sporting CP’s Maxi Araujo the opportunity to smash in the equalizer.
“In the first match, it’s natural to have some mistakes from both sides — we’re getting used to the atmosphere and the overall situation on the pitch,” said Al-Owais, who finished the match having made nine saves, including one at the death to deny Fede Valverde.
Valverde, the Uruguay captain, is no stranger to Saudi opposition having featured for Real Madrid in last year’s Club World Cup match against Al-Hilal in the Magic City, which also ended 1-1. He said they can only blame themselves for not taking the outright lead in Group H.
“We gave away the first half, to be honest,” Valverde said. “We didn’t play the way we had prepared; it wasn’t what we were looking for. I think we rushed too much — we wanted to win the game from the very first minute, but sometimes you need a bit more patience and to play your own game.
“In the second half, we improved a lot. We attacked more, pressed more, played better, and we’re also grateful for the support of the fans, which was crucial.”
Those sky-blue supporters would have been devastated had they lost, yet whether it could truly have been called a shock, we will never know. As well as Saudi’s famous win in 2022, one must consider that after five matches, Asia sides remain unbeaten, despite all having faced teams from either Europe or South America.
Saudi coach Georgios Donis, however, is adamant Spain and Uruguay remain runaway favorites. “Uruguay are an energetic team,” he said. “The players are well experienced and there is depth on the bench.
“When you’re faced with such an opponent, getting a point must be seen as a positive. Now I need to get to know my team better. I need to create a team that is competitive, and it only makes sense that we need time to do this. This result gives us an advantage.”
Bielsa, dressed in all black and having removed the ineffective Darwin Nunez at half time, was more grave in his assessment: “When a team that is supposed to make a difference cannot do it, in terms of being dangerous or dominating the ball, then the weaker team actually dares to do something.”
The Kingdom dared and while there was ultimately no shock in the Hard Rock, those clad in Saudi green who made the trip will continue to believe progress from the group remains well within reach.
