Saudi Gazette report

DOHA — Saudi Arabia will probably have its toughest meet in the World Cup 2022 opening game with Argentina, on Tuesday.

The Green Falcons concluded their training on Monday in preparation for their play against Argentina, the two-time World Cup winners, at 1.00 pm at the iconic Lusail Stadium.

The Saudi players held their training sessions under the supervision of Coach Hervé Renard. The training began with warm-up exercises, then the squares drill, followed by the possession exercise. The players were then divided into two groups on half the field, to conclude the training session with stretching exercises. Midfielder Riyad Sharahili, who had suffered a muscle injury, revealed that he was satisfied with special exercises accompanied by the medical staff.

The national squad members left their place of the residence Monday heading to Doha for tomorrow’s match.

Argentina is playing in the World Cup finals for the 18th time, while Saudi Arabia is playing for the sixth time and second in a row. Both countries have played each other four times, with Argentina winning once in their third meeting during the Confederations Cup in 1992.

Their last meeting ended 0-0 in a 2012 friendly match. Argentina won the World Cup title twice in 1978 and 1986 and also finished runner-up two times - in Italy in 1990 and Brazil in 2014.

The Saudi team’s other matches in Group C will be with Poland and Mexico.

It is noteworthy that Saudi Arabia has lost four of its five World Cup opening games. In the last World Cup in 2018, the team performed impressively after 5-0 loss to Russia in the opening match, with a 1-0 defeat against Uruguay and a win over Egypt.

This time, the team and officials are very much confident of further improving the performance under Renard, who has been at the helm of providing intensive training for over three years.