World Cup Qualifiers: Saudi Arabia vs Iraq! Shout all you want, but no one will come to your rescue?

Today, our first topic isthe World Cup qualifier: Saudi Arabia vs Iraq!

I find something quite amusing about it.

In the neighboring match between Qatar and the UAE,the UAE coach openly warned, hoping for a fair contest:

he also said they know the Uzbek referee very well.

Actually, I watched the refereeing in both matches, and in my opinion,Iraq probably has more reason to complain.

But surprisingly, Iraq hasn’t said much, only vaguely mentioning FIFA? That’s quite interesting.

For this Saudi match, there is a sense oftiming, location, and harmonyall coming together.

What does harmony mean?

For example, the referee,Mahadme, though Jordanian, has officiated the most club matches for Saudi’s Al Hilal Riyadh.

And the national team he has refereed most often is precisely Saudi Arabia,including two crucial home matches in the last World Cup qualifiers where Saudi beat Japan and Australia 1-0 each, performing excellently.

By the way, Jordan and Iraq are hardly close allies, right?

Do you remember last year’s Asian Cup quarterfinals when Iraq played Jordan? Iraq’s striker Hussein was sent off for mocking the opponent with a food-eating gesture, which led to Iraq’s comeback defeat and elimination. That caused quite a controversy at the time.

So having a Jordanian referee, who has officiated many Saudi games, in such a crucial qualifier while Iraq says nothing about it is a bit surprising.

What about location?

It’s obviously the King Abdullah Sports City stadium,where Saudi Arabia plays its most important matches.

For example, the final 2017 World Cup qualifier was here, where Saudi needed a miracle win over Japan to edge out Australia and did just that, qualifying for the World Cup.

The 2022 qualifier’s last match was also here, where Saudi defeated Australia to secure World Cup qualification.

Today’s match is also held here; at the very least, Saudi players probably feel confident because they see this place as lucky.

As for timing, it’s of course this bizarre schedule.

After playing Indonesia, Saudi had the luxury of resting for six days.

But Iraq, after facing Indonesia,had only 69 hours before tonight’s game!

After such an intense, fiercely contested match with eight yellows and four reds issued by the referee, how could they recover physically in such a short time?

Interestingly, Iraq had a huge advantage in fitness against Indonesia in the last game, so their strength grew stronger as the match went on.

But they can’t just take the fruits of that hard work; the joy they had against Indonesia might turn into hardship today.

Actually, these factors like timing, location, and harmony aren’t entirely unreasonable.

Football, in a way, is a comprehensive competition.

Saudi has invested astronomical sums in football over the years and cooperates deeply with FIFA, being a major sponsor of events like the Club World Cup and the sole bidder for the 2034 World Cup. They contribute both money and effort.

After all this investment, wouldn’t they expect at least a slight advantage? Should Iraq be given the edge instead? Right?

In this match, Saudi only needs a draw to advance, so they have the strategic upper hand.

They have a strong team and advantages in timing, location, and harmony; if they can’t perform well under these conditions, that would be too much!

Do you think Saudi can satisfy their fans? I’m looking forward to them winning outright.

Alright, for today’s other matches, I will still share my written thoughts with you tonight. If anything is unclear, feel free to ask me. “Watch the game clearly,” see you there!

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