Surprise in Qatar 2022! Argentina fell to the Saudi Arabia national team 2-1 and among the standout players of the match was goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais, who prevented the Albiceleste from equalizing, making history for the Asian country. If you think this is the first notable goalkeeper from the country, you are mistaken.
In the 90s, Mohamed Al-Deayea was one of their biggest stars, as he achieved several records for his great performance.
An icon of football in Saudi Arabia, Mohamed Al-Deayea. Photo: Difusión
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Who is Mohamed Al-Deayea?
Mohamed Abdullaziz Al-Deayea was born in Tabuk in 1972 and is a former Saudi Arabian international football player who played as a goalkeeper. Before choosing football, he played handball, but convinced by his club and his older brother Abdullah, he chose to pursue a career in football.
Al-Deayea was one of the key players to qualify Saudi Arabia for four World Cups: United States 1994, France 1998, Korea - Japan 2002, and Germany 2006, and he excelled in all of them.
"We were eliminated, but satisfied to have passed the group stage and very happy to have been the first time in a World Cup," said Al-Deayea about his participation in the Saudi Arabia national team at the 1994 World Cup in the United States.
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Arabia Saudita: How many World Cups have they participated in?
They debuted in 1994 and then became regular participants, but without surpassing the group stage. Mohamed Al-Deayea was part of their national team in all of them, except for the 2018 World Cup in Russia, as he retired from football on June 22, 2010. Here is a summary of the Asian country's participations.
- 1994 United States: Under the guidance of Argentine coach Jorge Solari, the team had the best experience in terms of sports results in their debut in the tournament.
- 1998 France: Four years later, they were eliminated in the group stage for the first time, losing 4-0 against the host nation.
- 2002 Korea - Japan: In this edition, they suffered one of the worst defeats. Germany scored eight goals against them. "Today I see it as a tough defeat. But after the match, we changed our mindset and qualified for the 2006 World Cup," Al-Deayea mentioned about this moment to Infobae.
- 2006 Germany: The team was eliminated in the group stage. Despite being called up as a goalkeeper, Al-Deayea did not play as a starter.
- 2018 Russia: They suffered a tough 0-5 defeat against the host Russia. However, in their final match, they won in the last minute against Egypt and achieved a World Cup victory for the first time since 1994.