Saudi Arabia: must try harder By MSN's Matt Ball
Last updated June 20 2006
Day eleven: wins for Spain, Ukraine and Switzerland
Ukraine 4-0 Saudi Arabia
Question: what is taken to the World Cup but never used?
Answer: Saudi Arabia
Now I know that is rather harsh – I am sure we all remember Said Owairan’s wonder goal against Belgium in 1994 – but they have not won any of their past nine World Cup matches and with their next fixture being against Spain they look set to hit double figures.
It was a poor performance by the Saudis, made worse by some dreadful goalkeeping by Mabrouk Zaid. When you think of some of the teams that did not qualify – Morocco, Nigeria and Cameroon, for example – and what they have brought to the World Cup in previous years it is easy to become frustrated by what you are watching. Or maybe that applies only to me.
If any good came out of that game it was that Ukraine got their first ever World Cup win and, by scoring four, wiped out the negative goal difference inflicted by Spain in the first match. The match also marked star striker Andriy Shevchenko’s goal-scoring debut in World Cup finals. A draw against Tunisia should be enough to send Ukraine into the next phase of the tournament (assuming, of course, that Saudi Arabia do not defeat Spain by at least 4-0).
Spain reign
As for Spain, they are already through to the next round after beating Tunisia 3-1. Sounds easy? It was not. Tunisia played well in the first half and took the lead after nine minutes thanks to a mixture of opportunism and a series of defensive errors and missed tackles. Spain looked lost every time Tunisia caught them on the counter-attack and their fans must have started to wonder if they were watching the Spain of old – good players who fail to produce their best form on the big occasion.
Some substitutions in the second half put things right – Fabregas, Joaquin and Raul all came on. Raul got the first after Tunisian goalkeeper Boumnijel could only parry a shot. Fernando Torres, despite a silly haircut, calmly scored the second as Boumnijel impetuously rushed out towards him and added a third late on with a penalty the keeper should have saved.
Boumnijel? Surely that should be a brand of antiseptic ointment?
Swiss roll over Togo
Switzerland put the pressure on France in Group G with a 2-0 win over Togo. Frei opened the scoring with a header on16 minutes and Barnetta clinched the victory with a super strike on 88 minutes.
France need to beat Togo in the last round of group matches by two clear goals to qualify. | 
