5 things we learned from Saudi Arabia’s 1-0 loss to Colombia

Saudi Arabia started their preparations for the World Cup on Sunday with a 1-0 loss to Colombia in Spain. Here are five things we learned.

1. Colombia deserved the win

While results are not that important at the moment, there is little doubt that this one reflected the overall play. The South Americans attacked aggressively from the kickoff, getting in behind what was a leaden Saudi Arabian defense to take the lead after nine minutes. It was a flowing move and finished off well but a short pass on the right wing cut open the defense.

In the first half, Colombia had a lot of joy on the Saudi left. In truth, they could have been three goals ahead by the break. Not long after the opener, there was a goal ruled out. The Yellows were finding too much space in and around the area. The successful qualification for the World Cup was built upon a strong defense but not enough protection was given from midfield to the backline. The introduction of Mohamed Kanno at the break added more physicality and energy to this area and matters improved in the second half. The Saudi team rarely looked dangerous going forward and with defensive issues, there is a lot of work to do ahead of the next game.

2. Chance missed to increase self-belief

Everyone in Asia knows that Saudi Arabia are a much-improved team and were impressive in qualification, topping Group B ahead of Japan and Australia. The problem that all Asian teams have — especially after a pandemic that limited travel and games — is that there is still a big gap between playing the average Asian team and facing the average European or South American opponent. That is why as many tests as possible against such teams are needed. After all, it was in the last century that Saudi