Oh Green Falcons, we miss you at South Africa 2010. The phenomenal improvement of the game of soccer in Saudi Arabia reached a milestone when the Kingdom qualified for the World Cup Finals for the first time in 1994 and gatecrashed into the second stage of the championship, raising many eyebrows in world soccer. Thereafter the Asian powerhouse Saudi Arabia became a permanent feature at the Finals without fail for the next four Finals and soccer fans could not even dream of a soccer World Cup without Saudi Arabia which unfortunately became a reality this time. After dominating Asian football for years, Saudi soccer fans have taken the World Cup qualification a formality. With the dreams shattered Saudi Arabia now can only take pride of its presence in the South Africa 2010 with the selection of Kingdom's FIFA referee Khalil Al-Ghamdi in the championship. The 1994 “golden lineup”, powered by “Pele of the Desert” Majid Abdullah triggered a golden era in Saudi soccer. Al-Shabab striker Saeed Al-Owairan, made the very first World Cup appearance for Saudi Arabia memorable through his magical goal against Belgium at the RFK stadium which was later voted as the third best goal in the history of football by The Telegraph and World Soccer Magazine. The Falcons were also there in the France World Cup in 1998, but this time with a more “modest” contribution, losing against Denmark 1-0 and France 4-0. However they redeemed some prestige with a 2-2 draw against South Africa. The Korea-Japan 2002 World Cup was even more disappointing, as the Falcons failed to score a single goal. With 1-0 and 3-0 defeats against Cameron and the Republic of Ireland respectively, the tournament is mostly remembered for the crushing 8-0 defeat at the hands of Germany. The Green Falcons lovers became optimistic during World Cup 2006 in Germany which coincided with a heroic performance in Asia Cup 2007 where it reached the final but was defeated by Iraq – the Saudi national team was ever-present at Asia Cup's final matches since 1984 except in 2004 in China. The team's performance in Germany was relatively better, drawing with Tunisia 2-2 and defeated by Ukraine and Spain 4-0 and 1-0. Though the beloved Falcons failed to qualify the soccer-crazy Saudi fans have been waiting for the event to arrive again and they have their favorite teams which they have no relation to, proving that football does not recognize borders and barriers. The game is a means to bring people together and major international teams always have the largest number of supporters. Saudi Gazette and sister publication Al-Nadi sports newspaper have conducted a survey in Jeddah and Riyadh, where Spain, Brazil, Italy and France had the lion's share of supporters, although soccer lovers say their hearts would be with Algeria and Asian teams. “Spain and Brazil are the best right now but I think the bulls, with their current golden generation headed by Arsenal captain Fabregas, and their ready replacement, could take the cup for the first time in history,” said Sultan Al-Qaisi in Jeddah. “In terms of elements I think Argentina is No. 1,” said Lutfi Al-Nader of Jeddah. “But the team needs a coach that can clinch championships. Maradona is undisputable as a player but coaching is another thing,” he added, hoping for Algeria to reach the first knockout round and beyond. Abdulaziz Al-Raddadi from Riyadh agreed. “My team is Argentina which has the best attacking line with the world's best player Messi and Diego Milito whose goals won Inter Milan three championships recently,” he said. “However, I think Maradona's conventions are strange. He did not call the experienced Javier Zanetti, and the player who is present everywhere in the field Cambiasso, into the squad.” “Another negative point is that Argentina does not have a super-star goalkeeper like Italy's Buffon, Brazil's Cizar and Spain's Casillas, but I think if the team makes it to the first knockout round it will take the cup.” – With input from Abdullah Alawi/Nadi __
