Bahrain:
They will be a different proposition v Saudi, and the AWs will need to play the game of their lives to beat either of these sides... Saudi have a proud WC history, having qualified for the last four in a row, while Bahrain are desperate to get there after going so close last time - 2 very fired up, motivated teams.
Be interesting to see how the All Whites do against Jordan, as Bahrain wacked them 4-0 in a friendly on June 3rd.
<!-- Start Member Post -->
Bahrain haven't played an international since their last World Cup qualifier on 17/6/09( a 1-0 win against Uzbekistan), only club sides.
Australia beat them 2-0 in Aussie on 10/6/09.
Their next friendlies are against Kenya on 26/8/09 and Iran on 31/8/09.
They've won 10 of their last 19 games- not outstanding form...
Details on Bahrain team, results, players etc. at FIFA.com: www.fifa.com/associations/association=bhr/index.html
<!-- Start Member Post -->
Checking Saudi Arabia's record of the last few years on FIFA.com:
shows they simply don't get to play sides outside of the Asia/Middle East zone much any more:(probably European or South American sides don't want to venture there because of security concerns). In the past, pre- September 11, they used to gain experience by playing more friendlies against top European or South American opposition. All of their last 19 internationals have been against Asian Confederation teams.
You have to go back to 9/11/07 before they last played a European side (Estonia is all they could manage- the same kind of weaker European team NZ has played in friendlies).
The last time they played a South American country was Paraguay in a friendly on 20/08/08.
And how many of their team survive from the last World Cup Finals in 2006? The only tournament they've played outside the Arabian Peninsula (where they failed in the Gulf Cup this year) since then, was the last Asian Cup where they did not do well.
They failed to win a game in the 2006 World Cup Finals- the last Saudi win in a World Cup Finals was in their first appearance in 1994. Since then their record reads: 1998:2L 1D; 2002: 3L (including a caning of 8-0 by Germany).
At least the All Whites have played a variety of opposition over the last couple of years , including the useful experience of the Confederations Cup in June and friendlies against vastly varied opposition.
Saudi Arabia's record over the last year is not impressive: of their last 19 internationals (all against teams from the Asian Confed.), they've only won nine.
This includes losses to Oman in their most recent game ( a friendly last week 12/8/09), an earlier loss to Oman in the Gulf Cup Final, a loss to Qatar in May, a loss to North Korea in a World Cup tie in Feb., and 0-0 draws with both North and South Korea in World Cup qualifiers.
They only managed to win two of their last five World Cup qualifiers this year.
Saudi are ranked #64 by FIFA and our other possible opponent, Bahrain #65.
In their
