Saudi Arabia national football team

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Saudi Arabia
Shirt badge/Association crest
Nickname Sons Of The Desert
Association Saudi Arabia Football Federation
Head coach Brazil Marcos Paquetá
Most caps Mohamed Al-Deayea (181)
Top scorer Majed Abdullah (67)
FIFA code KSA
FIFA ranking 64
Highest FIFA ranking 21 (July 2004)
Lowest FIFA ranking 81 (July 2006)
Elo ranking 67
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Home kit
Team colours Team colours Team colours
Team colours
Team colours
 
Away kit
First international
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 3 - 1 Syria Syria
(Lebanon; October 20, 1957)
Largest win
Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia 8 - 0 Macao Macau
(Taif, Saudi Arabia; May 14, 1993)
Worst defeat
Morocco Morocco 13 - 1 Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia
(Morocco; 6 September 1961)
World Cup
Appearances 4 (First in 1994)
Best result Round 2 1994
AFC Asian Cup
Appearances 6 (First in 1984)
Best result Winners, 1984, 1988, 1996

The Saudi Arabia national football team (Arabic: منتخب السعودية لكرة القدم‎) (known by its fans as al-Sogour which means "The Falcons" or al-Akhdar which means "The Green") is the national team of Saudi Arabia and is controlled by the Saudi Arabia Football Federation. It is one of Asia's most successful national teams. They are regarded as a newcomer on the world scene, having made their first World Cup in 1994. They have qualified for every World Cup since then.

In 1994, they upset Belgium at the group stage before falling to Sweden in the next round. The side were dismissed in the first round of the next three Cup tournaments, including an 8-0 defeat by Germany in 2002.

Saudi Arabia won the Asian Cup three times, in 1984, 1988, and 1996. They won the World Under-17 Championship in 1989.

On June 8, 2005, they qualified for their fourth World Cup by beating Uzbekistan 3-0 in Riyadh.

Mohamed Al-Deayea, the team's goalkeeper, is the world recordholder for most international appearances by a male player.

Contents

[edit] World Cup record

[edit] FIFA U-17 World Championship

[edit] Asian Cup record

[edit] Famous players

[edit] 2006 World Cup Squad

Mohammad Al-Anbar was originally announced as a member of the squad but was injured on 13 June 2006 during a training session on the eve of their opening match. He was replaced by Mohamed Al-Bishi.

No. Pos. Player DoB/Age Caps Club
1 GK Mohammad Al-Deayea 2 August 1972 181 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
2 DF Ahmed Al-Doukhi 25 October 1976 69 Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad
3 DF Redha Tukar 29 November 1975 38 Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad
4 DF Hamad Al-Montashari 22 June 1982 33 Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad
5 DF Naif Al-Qadhi 3 April 1979 28 Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli
6 MF Omar Al-Ghamdi 11 April 1979 39 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
7 MF Mohammed Ameen 29 April 1980 17 Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad
8 MF Mohammed Noor 26 February 1978 64 Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad
9 FW Hatem al-ahmary 11 December 1972 161 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
10 MF Mohammad Al-Shalhoub 8 December 1980 48 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
11 FW Saad Al-Harthi 3 February 1984 15 Saudi Arabia Al-Nasr
12 DF Abdul Aziz Al-Khathran 31 July 1973 19 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
13 DF Hussein Abdul Ghani 21 January 1977 98 Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli
14 MF Saoud Kariri 8 July 1980 35 Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad
15 DF Ahmad Al-Bahri 18 September 1980 11 Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab
16 MF Khaled Aziz 14 July 1981 15 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
17 FW Mohamed Al-Bishi 3 May 1987 0 Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli
18 MF Nawaf Al-Temyat 28 June 1976 57 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
19 MF Mohammad Masaad 17 February 1983 5 Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli
20 FW Yasser Al-Qahtani 10 October 1982 46 Saudi Arabia Al-Hilal
21 GK Mabrouk Zaid 11 February 1979 34 Saudi Arabia Al-Ittihad
22 GK Mohammad Khouja 15 March 1982 8 Saudi Arabia Al-Shabab
23 FW Malek Maath 10 August 1981 6 Saudi Arabia Al-Ahli

Italy and Saudi Arabia were the only countries to submit squad lists for the 2006 World Cup comprised entirely of players contracted to clubs in their own country.

[edit] 2006 World Cup Information

Saudi Arabia managed to draw their opening game against Tunisia. They conceded the lead at half time after Zaid Jaziri volleyed in a mislaid header, but Tunisia didn't start well in the second half and Saudi Arabia equalised from Yasser Al-Qahtani. Substitute Sami Al-Jaber came on and scored with 4 minutes to go to put the Saudis 2-1 up, but in added time Bolton defender Radhi Jaidi headed in an equaliser for Tunisia. Saudi Arabia then lost 4-0 to Ukraine in Hamburg, with goals from Andri Rusol, Serhiy Rebrov, Andriy Shevchenko and Maksym Kalynychenko.

Their third group game played against a Spain team featuring mainly substitutes, with the latter having already secured first place in the group, ended with a 1-0 defeat, with Juanito's header ending the Saudi's term at World Cup 2006.

[edit] External links


International football
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FIFA | World Cup | U-20 World Cup | U-17 World Cup | Olympics | Kirin Cup | Asiad | Africand | PASO | Lusophony Games | Mediterranean Games | Jeux de la Francophonie | UNCAF National Cup | CFU Caribbean Cup | Confederations Cup | World Rankings | Player of the Year | Teams

     Asia: AFCAsian Cup
     Africa: CAFAfrican Cup of Nations
     North America: CONCACAFGold Cup
     South America: CONMEBOLCopa América
     Oceania: OFCNations Cup
     Europe: UEFAEuropean Championship
     Non-members of FIFA: NFBVIVA World Cup
National football teams of Asia (AFC)
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Afghanistan | Australia | Bahrain | Bangladesh | Bhutan | Brunei | Cambodia | China PR | Chinese Taipei | East Timor | Guam | Hong Kong, China | India | Indonesia | Iran | Iraq | Japan | Jordan | Korea DPR | Korea Republic | Kuwait | Kyrgyzstan | Laos | Lebanon | Macau, China | Malaysia | Maldives | Mongolia | Myanmar | Nepal | Oman | Pakistan | Palestine | Philippines | Qatar | Saudi Arabia | Singapore | Sri Lanka | Syria | Tajikistan | Thailand | Turkmenistan | United Arab Emirates | Uzbekistan | Vietnam | Yemen

2006 FIFA World Cup finalists
v  d  e

Champions: Italy 

Runners-up: France 

Third place: Germany 

Fourth place: Portugal 

Eliminated in Quarter-finals: Argentina | Brazil | England | Ukraine 

Eliminated in Round of 16: Australia | Ecuador | Ghana | Mexico | Netherlands | Spain | Sweden | Switzerland 

Eliminated in Group Stage: Angola | Costa Rica | Côte d'Ivoire | Croatia | Czech Republic | Iran | Japan | Korea Republic | Paraguay | Poland | Saudi Arabia | Serbia & Montenegro | Togo | Trinidad and Tobago | Tunisia | USA