World Cup Team Checks: Saudi Arabia

World Cup qualifiers

World Cup qualification as an obstacle? Not for Saudi Arabia's soccer players. The team confidently completed the qualifiers and won the top slot in Group A ahead of South Korea.

Stars

In addition to old hand Sami Al-Jaber, who shot two goals in three World Cup tournaments, strikers Mohammad Al-Shlhoub and Ibrahim Al-Shahrani belong to the pillars of the Arab team. They are joined by 24-year-old Yasser Al Qahtani, the country's most expensive player. His club Al Hilal paid 10 million dollars (8.4 million euros) for the forward's services.

Trainer

Training the Saudi Arabian international team is by no means a secure job. Gabriel Calderon is already the 14th coach since 1994. The Argentinean replaced Gerard van der Lem as trainer in the fall of 2004. The smooth qualification for the World Cup in Germany under Calderon's leadership has fans dreaming of a glorious World Cup 2006 for their team.

World Cup history

Saudi Arabia is participating in the World Cup for the fourth time since 1994.

1994: Round of 16, 1998: Preliminary round, 2002: Preliminary round

Match schedule: preliminary round

June 14, 2006: Tunisia -- Saudi Arabia in Munich

June 19, 2006: Saudi Arabia -- Ukraine in Hamburg

June 23, 2006: Saudi Arabia -- Spain in Kaiserslautern

World Cup base

The Saudi Arabian team has its base in Bad Nauheim in Hesse during the World Cup.

Outlook

The motto here is: it can only get better. The dishonor of Sapporo continues to be felt even today. On June 1, 2002, a 0:8 debacle against the later runners-up Germany heralded the to date worst World Cup performance for Saudi Arabia. The Saudi team returned home following the preliminary round without a point or goal scored. Four years later, things should go better for the kingdom's kickers.