Arab football can’t compete with world elite
Print Edition
THE 2018 FIFA World Cup has seen the last Arab hope disappear after Tunisia lost 2-5 against Belgium last weekend, adding more evidence to the argument that Arab football has a long way to go before it can provide real competition on the world’s biggest stage.
The Tunisian squad is preparing to go home along with fellow Arab competitors Morocco, Saudi Arabia and Egypt, all of whom have suffered defeats in their opening two group games.
Following the match against Belgium, Tunisian coach Nabil Maaloul told reporters that Arab teams “had a long way to go before they could compete effectively at the World Cup.”
While Tunisia was beaten by Belgium and England, both Saudi Arabia and Egypt were defeated by Uruguay and Russia, and Morocco lost against Iran and Portugal in Group B.
“For Arab teams, qualifying for the World Cup itself is an accomplishment, but our levels don’t allow us to compete,” said Taha Ismail, a former striker with Egypt’s Al-Ahly football club.
Most experts attributed the Arab sides’ poor performances at the World Cup to a lack of fitness and effort on the players’ part, rather than any strategic or tactical inadequacy.
“Arab teams lack professionalism and seriousness in their World Cup preparations. We don’t have sufficient training camps or enough finance. We have a long way to go,” Ismail said, adding that “our level in football is low and we should admit that.”
African teams like Nigeria and Senegal have acquitted themselves better, with each of them having won one match so far in the World Cup group stage.
“African teams have capabilities lacking in the Arab world. Their players are physically fit, tall, strong and fast. They have many footballers playing at high levels in Europe, which makes a big difference too,” said Ismail.
Farouk Gaafar, a retired star of Egypt’s popular Zamalek football club, described the performance of Arab teams in the World Cup as “so weak.”
“For many Arabs, merely qualifying for the World Cup has become an achievement, rather than demonstrating good abilities and distinguished performances in the competition,” Gaafar said. “The players don’t try hard enough in training or in matches. Many of them don’t regularly attend training camps and friendly games. All these factors affect the general performance.”
The 2018 World Cup opener on June 14 saw Saudi Arabia’s 0-5 loss to hosts Russia.
“The big scorelines and the fact that many goals were scored against Arab teams indicate the big differences between Arab soccer and that of European and Latin American teams,” Gaafar said.
Arab fans have been surprised and disappointed by the results in Russia, with some of them posting mockingly on social media that FIFA should stand for “football isn’t for Arabs.”
“The Arab defeats at the World Cup are not a surprise,” said renowned Egyptian sports critic and writer Hassan al-Mestikawi. “The surprise is when an Arab team advances to the round of 16 or beyond.”
The pundit argued that Arab footballers lack the physical fitness of their Western counterparts, as well as lacking in the teamwork, effort and persistence departments.
“I have always been saying that our performance in the World Cup is more important than taking part in the competition,” Mestikawi said, stressing the need for well-built, fast and tall players who will be able to face strong teams and compete effectively at the World Cup.
He believes that the poor standard of Arab football also has to do with technological and scientific levels, arguing that Arabs will be good at football when they’re more developed and advanced.
“Football is a small model of our development. We Arabs have a long way to go to have a real presence at the World Cup and to compete for the title,” said Mestikawi.
- About Us
- |
- Terms of Use
- |
-
RSS - |
- Privacy Policy
- |
- Contact Us
- |
- Shanghai Call Center: 962288
- |
- Tip-off hotline: 52920043
- 沪ICP证：沪ICP备05050403号-1
- |
- 互联网新闻信息服务许可证：31120180004
- |
- 网络视听许可证：0909346
- |
- 广播电视节目制作许可证：沪字第354号
- |
- 增值电信业务经营许可证：沪B2-20120012
Copyright © 1999- Shanghai Daily. All rights reserved.Preferably viewed with Internet Explorer 8 or newer browsers.
