‘I can’t describe how disappointed and saddened we are’: Saudi players dismayed by World Cup exit

HOUSTON: Before the team buses had arrived at the NRG Stadium on Friday night, local media had billed Houston as Saudi Arabia’s “home away from home,” a city with deep economic, educational and cultural ties to the Kingdom.

Yet by full-time, as the white-shirted Saudis lay prostrate after crashing out of the World Cup at the group stage for a sixth successive time, there was no doubting where the neutrals’ sympathies lay.

World Cup debutants Cape Verde knew they might need only a draw to prolong their remarkable journey and progress to the Round of 32.

With Uruguay failing to get anything against Spain, the third smallest country in Africa — with a 40-year-old goalkeeper and a defender who was called up after receiving a direct message on LinkedIn — secured a place in the knock-out stages. Next they face reigning champions Argentina led by Lionel Messi. The tiny Atlantic nation has become one of the most captivating stories of the summer.

In direct comparison to the Cape Verde players who danced through the media mixed zone with sunglasses, cowboy hats and blaring music, for Saudi’s sullen troupe this was an evening to banish to the back of their minds. Mohammed Al-Shamat, who only entered the field with 25 minutes remaining, was the player put in front of reporters for the team’s mandatory media commitments. Nawaf Boushal spoke, too, but the vast majority of the team walked past reporters with heads bowed, whispering apologies.

“I can’t describe how disappointed and saddened we are,” said Al-Shamat, 23, before delivering a passionate defense of his teammates after a match in which they showed little ambition and could have easily lost had their opponents been more clinical in front of goal. “There are shortcomings