...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
's sports authorities threatened on Friday to hold members of the national football team "accountable" after their crushing defeat against hosts Russia in the opening match of the World Cup.
Russia defied expectations as the lowest-ranked side in the tournament by thrashing Saudi Arabia 5-0 in front of an ecstatic home crowd in Moscow on Thursday.
The match was attended by Saudi Arabia's Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman
...
Crown Prince of Saudi Arabia as of 2016...., who sat a couple of seats away from Russian President Vladimir Putin
...President-for-Life of Russia. He gets along well with other presidents for life. He is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substance. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to him. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead from poisoning by polonium or other interesting substances..."The result was disappointing and unsatisfactory," Adel Ezzat, president of the Saudi Football Federation, told al-Arabiya television Friday.
A "number of players" including goalkeeper Abdullah al-Mayouf would be held accountable, he added.
The team had been trained so they could rise to the occasion, Ezzat said.
"The collapse was not because of fitness, but errors in passing the ball, technical errors," he added.