Saudi Arabia’s footballers fell short of gold in the football competition at the Islamic Solidarity Games after a 1-0 defeat to hosts Turkey in Konya on Tuesday.
The loss ends the team’s run of 10 straight victories, stretching back to the triumphant AFC U-23 Asian Cup in Uzbekistan in June, for the young Green Falcons.
The winning goal was scored by Metehan Altunbas, of Turkish club Adanaspor, in the 27th minute of the match. Saudi’s players received their silver medals from President of the Saudi Olympic and Paralympic Committee Prince Abdulaziz bin Turki Al-Faisal, who is also the president of the Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation.
The podium finish is Saudi’s second in the Islamic games across its five editions. The team’s coach, Saad Al-Shehri, had previously won the competition as a player with Saudi Arabia in 2005.