Doha. Poland are not the best team in the World Cup but they have Robert Lewandowski and a wall 196cm high and wide between the posts.
When the Saudi disappointment subsides, optimism will quickly creep back in.
Both countries still have everything in their hands.
Early on a Saturday afternoon in Doha, soccer fever was brewing among the Saudis. Wherever one went, someone draped in the green flag appeared, there was singing and drumming reverberating in the metro station at Education City Stadium.
Perhaps that was not unexpected. It takes a while for the adrenaline rush to subside after the first win against Argentina. It’s one of the most amazing World Cup stories ever, seeing Lionel Messi go down against a pack of brutal Wolves who also play really great football.
A great victory for Arab football
Among the most unexpected of the well-wishers was Daifallah al-Shami.
Congratulations for the Saudi team’s victory over the Argentine team. This victory puts Arab football back on the map,” he wrote on Twitter.
The flattery itself was not strange in itself. The only striking detail was the fact that Al-Shami is a member of the Houthi rebels, a political movement that has been waging war on Saudi Arabia and striking it in support of the Houthis’ enemy, the Yemeni regime, since 2015.
The Houthis have previously called Saudi Arabia the “Devil’s Horn”. Al-Shami was soon omitted, but he wasn’t alone in feeling torn by the Gulf state’s unexpected blow.
On the one hand, great success in the largest sport in the world for the Arab world. On the other hand, complex political situations with human lives at stake.
slammed hard
Saudi Arabia must have enjoyed the victory over Argentina. But they might not have understood exactly what awaited them when the Poles pulled their shoelaces and sharpened their elbows, literally.
Because as it happened. In five minutes of the first half, Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio handed the yellow card three times, to Jacob Cuyoor, Mate Cash and Arcadius Milik, respectively.
Slough-born Cash followed up his infiltration of Salem Al-Dosari by striking him on the temple of Muhammad Kanoo. In terms of play, Poland were down but their physicality slowed the Saudis’ quick confidence. A good movement was all that was required, as Cash ran along the edge, Robert Lewandowski made his way into the penalty area and Piotr Zielinski fired the rebound into the roof of the net.
A small spot of red and white among all the green and whites in the stands celebrated their main goal. The situation was not new for the Saudis, after all they managed to come back against Argentina itself. They soon had a great chance to equalise.
Giant Chesney in the goal
It is usually said that no one should file a criminal case in advance. Already when referee Samabayo pointed his whole arm towards the penalty spot in Poland, several Saudi players knelt and kissed the grass. Christian Bellic was judged to have kidnapped Salih al-Shehri, and it may have been done clumsily although he was not particularly cruel.
Salem Al-Dosari had only to roll the ball behind goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny to secure the Rolls Royce that Prince Salman had already promised the players.
However, there was a problem with her height of 196 cm for Saudi Arabia. The 32-year-old Szczesny, with 132 appearances for Arsenal and 146 for Juventus, is still a very good goalkeeper. First a penalty save, then a rebound, then a few more that gave goal chances amid the desperate roar of the crowd.
can rise again
Robert Lewandowski’s extension with less than ten minutes left, his 600th but first World Cup goal, was the final nod to many veiled spectators. For Poles, his subsequent tears indicated great hope for the future.
Now Poland has everything in its hands before the last meeting with Argentina. So is the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Soccer fever may have dropped a few degrees for the green wearer today, but a solid 90 minutes against Mexico could raise the temperature.