Saudia Arabia were hammered 5-0 by Russia in the opening game of 2108 World Cup, which instantly went into the record book as the heaviest defeat in an opening game of a world cup tournament.
The embarrassing defeat has been widely condemned by the citizens of the country, with the Saudi Arabia football federation chief, Adel Ezzat listing three players who will be punished when they return home from the World Cup.
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Reacting to the game, Adel was quoted as saying in the Al-Youm Assabaa newspaper,
We are very disappointed by the defeat. This result is totally unsatisfactory, because it does not reflect the true level of our preparedness.
Several players will face a penalty – goalkeeper Abdullah Al-Mayouf, striker Mohammad Al-Sahlawi and defender Omar Hawsawi.
Their punishment have not been revealed yet, but many are scared for the players who come from a country where they still live in fear of capital punishment.
Another criticism also came from the chairman of the General Sport Authority, Turki bin Abdulmohsen Al-Sheikh, who described the game as a ‘total fiasco’ in a video posted on his Twitter page.
He said:
‘These players have made my face go black with embarrassment and fury.
‘This is down to their weak potential and ability. We did everything for this team and this generation of players, everything.
‘We brought them the best technical support, a team of the highest level and we paid them for three years.
‘But now we see they have limited capabilities.
‘They have achieved just five percent of what is expected and required of them.’
Well, would the punishment still hold if they are able to advance beyond the group stages and even exceed expectations as the tournament progresses? Only time would tell.
Source: www.Ghgossip.com
