Physical Address
304 North Cardinal St.
Dorchester Center, MA 02124
The Greens came under heavy attack after a draw in the first round of the World Cup
Saudi Arabian national team player Sultan Mandash responded to the criticism that the “green” players were subjected to after the draw with Uruguay at the opening of the 2026 World Cup.
Saudi Arabia’s national team opened their World Cup campaign with a 1-1 draw with Uruguay in the early hours of Tuesday’s match between them at the Hard Rock Stadium in the American city of Miami in the first round of the group stage.
The Saudi national team was heavily criticized for a defensive collapse in the second half before conceding after taking a clean sheet in the first half.
Mendash commented on this issue in a statement given to the Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat, where he said: “As I said before, we played against a big team and a point is better than nothing and we have two games left and we hope to qualify for the next round.”
He added: “We are ready. We won the last game. Our ambition is to qualify and win the remaining two matches to make the fans happy.”
The Saudi Arabian national team will meet its Spanish partner in the second round of the 2026 World Cup group stage next Sunday at the Mercedes-Benz Stadium in the American city of Atlanta.
It is noteworthy that all the teams included in the eight groups have one point, after the Saudi Arabian national team drew with Uruguay 1-1, and Spain drew with Cape Verde without goals.
