Official line-ups Saudi Arabia-Mexico, Sons of the Desert dream of historic qualification: scorers’ predictions, cautions and marksmen
Saudi Arabia, whatever the outcome of their adventure, will remain in the slides of this World Cup. A resounding victory over Argentina in the opener, a comeback that no one would have been able to predict after the Selección’s drumbeat start. The Sons of the Desert – this is the nickname of the Saudi selection – then fell against Poland, despite having played another good match. Qualification, however, is still possible. Should they beat Mexico, they would reach the round of 16, regardless of the result of Poland-Argentina. For ‘Tata’ Martino’s men, on the other hand, even a victory could prove futile. El Tri did not go beyond a draw with Poland and lost to Argentina, without ever finding the way to a goal. These are the formation choices of the two coaches.
- SAUDI ARABIA (3-4-3): Al-Owais; Al-Tambakti, Al-Amri, Al-Boleahi; Al-Ghannam, Al-Hassan, Kanno, Abdulhamid; Al-Buraikan, Al-Shehri, Al-Dawsari. CT: Hervé Renard.
- MESSICO (4-2-3-1): Ochoa; Sanchez, Moreno, Montes, Gallardo; Chavez, Alvarez; Lozano, Pineda, Vega; Martin. CT: Gerardo Martino.
Official line-ups Saudi Arabia-Mexico, the scorers’ prediction
Anxious for redemption is Al-Dawsari: the author of the winning goal against Argentina subsequently missed the penalty of the possible 1-1 against Poland. It would not be surprising if the Saudi Arabian captain finds the way of goal again. Mexico needs to get unstuck offensively, and who could help them if not their most talented player, Hirving Lozano. The Napoli international is one of the possible goalscorers in this match.
Saudi Arabia-Mexico official line-ups, likely cautions and marksmen
Saudi midfielder Kanno could end up in the referee’s notebook: so far he has been one of his team’s most foul-takers. In Mexico, the ‘naughtiest’ are likely to be Chavez and Gallardo. Striker Al-Shehri is likely to shoot at least once on goal, among the Mexicans, on the other hand, watch out for striker Martin, preferred to Raul Jimenez.