Saudi Arabia is the success of a conservative football force - but how long?
When talking about Saudi Arabia, we imagine a very hot, sand-filled country but full of oil and gas reserves as well as the rich Sheikhs riding on camels. Well, this applies to every country from the Arabian peninsula, Saudi Arabia included. And being rich also give power, to order the others. Saudi Arabia has it all. With the vast oil wealth, the country began a rapid modernisation in the mid-20th century, and by the 1990s, it is one of the 20 biggest economies, a position it still stands today and is also part of the G20. Football in the country also enjoys the advantage of being rich: it established a national football league in 1975, paved the way to become fully professional in 2007. As for the result, Saudi Arabia's fortune increased over time. Saudi Arabia has won two first Asian Cup titles in 1984 and 1988, which were also the country's debuts. The development accelerated when Saudi Arabia qualified for the 1994 FIFA World Cup in the United States - where the Saudis imp...