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I am not saying that those talents could be or can become the next Messi or C. Ronaldo but obviously there is a very large talent pool in the Arab world which is why European scouts are starting to prioritize the Arab football market in order to discover the next Salah not to mention all those with European passports that already made it decades ago and are making it each year today.

Optimism/patriotism excluded, it's hard to disagree with this viewpoint. It's similar with Africa btw but that region has more scouts somehow.

The Saudi Arabian football league is strong for Asian standards (the best with the Japanese and Chinese) but it is very far behind the best European leagues. Surprised that Tunisian fans think like that.

I agree but at the other hand I understand their viewpoints too. For many footballers (vast majority who are not among the very elite) it's just a job for them. If they can be paid much more money and work and live in a familiar and safe environment back home surrounded by family, friends etc. what is their incitement to leave? On the other hand some African teenager from say Nigeria, escaping poverty and looking to feed his family, is going all in. Vast majority fail but those who succeed are much stronger mentally than the average Arab talent. Much stronger. Sure, there are poor Arab nations (plenty nowadays) but it's not the same desperation as in Sub-Sahran Africa.

But we have talked a lot but how to change the mentality then? I see no other solution than what UAE and Qatar is doing currently thanks to Man City and PSG.




Let us see what such academies can develop of players in the future. I am hopeful as it is impossible to do worse than currently.

For sure, it's gonna be impossible to do worse.
But Elite Athletes around the World... That are admired for their talent made themselves by their harsh reality, almost none of them got an Easy life, neither before or after their fame... They were people who always pushed for their limits.

The problem with "Academies" is the way they perceive "Talents", Like Zidane said... "I wasn't good enough for them... Today, They scream my name..."
Academies are lambda schools, where to enter you need to fill certain requirement... a certain type of play that teams are seeking...
But Football, isn't meant to be a robotic game, like what we begin to see more and more with the newest generation... The time of "Creation" is fading away...
The likes of Ronaldinho-Zidane-Ronaldo-Cristiano-Messi-Robben-Rooney-Muller are no more... What we've got are some wannabe "Masters" who can't dribble without losing the ball after passing one guy...
 
For sure, it's gonna be impossible to do worse.
But Elite Athletes around the World... That are admired for their talent made themselves by their harsh reality, almost none of them got an Easy life, neither before or after their fame... They were people who always pushed for their limits.

The problem with "Academies" is the way they perceive "Talents", Like Zidane said... "I wasn't good enough for them... Today, They scream my name..."
Academies are lambda schools, where to enter you need to fill certain requirement... a certain type of play that teams are seeking...
But Football, isn't meant to be a robotic game, like what we begin to see more and more with the newest generation... The time of "Creation" is fading away...
The likes of Ronaldinho-Zidane-Ronaldo-Cristiano-Messi-Robben-Rooney-Muller are no more... What we've got are some wannabe "Masters"

Spot on. Could not have said it better. You are echoing my sentiments. On the other hand that creativity, naive play, I am a bit tired of in the context of KSA, as such naive football does not get you any results in today's football if you are a underdog where organization is alfa and omega. The Saudi Arabian team in 1994 were the surprise of the tournament but such a naive approach to the game would likely (you never know) not succeed today.

Hence why I support such academies. BTW most serious academies, at least at top clubs in Europe (especially in Spain), also allow the individual talent to shine but not at the expense of the team which is the right approach IMO. After all football is a team play not an individual sport like tennis.

Speaking about tennis, I have always had a hard time believing how little focus this great sport is given in Arab countries and the Middle East in general. A criminally underrated sport with a big following and a lot of money for the very best.
 
Spot on. Could not have said it better. You are echoing my sentiments. On the other hand that creativity, naive play, I am a bit tired of in the context of KSA, as such naive football does not get you any results in today's football if you are a underdog where organization is alfa and omega. The Saudi Arabian team in 1994 were the surprise of the tournament but such a naive approach to the game would likely (you never know) not succeed today.

Hence why I support such academies. BTW most serious academies, at least at top clubs in Europe (especially in Spain), also allow the individual talent to shine but not at the expense of the team which is the right approach IMO. After all football is a team play not an individual sport like tennis.

Speaking about tennis, I have always had a hard time believing how little focus this great sport is given in Arab countries and the Middle East in general. A criminally underrated sport with a big following and a lot of money for the very best.

If you wish for my Feeling regarding Football... Then here it is.
I don't care who win or lose... Whatever it's my country or not...

What I care in Football is to smile and clap when a True "Master" is f*cking each one of them on the field EVEN if it's me in the receiving end, I would have Stopped, Smiled and Clapped, like a little Boy.

I crave for "Beauty"... So when, Per exemple Ronaldinho was Dancing on the Field back in the Days, I loved it, it made me wish to be better in what i was doing (Sport/school etc), Made me stronger.
I crave for the "Commitment" of the Loser, It's Exciting... When you see people fighting till the End like savage beasts... to keep themselves Alive/Relevant...

I believe, if things like that do not animate you, Then it's useless to even open your eyes in front of it.

Pro Football is an Entertainment... it's only a sport when you practicing it. So, for me, I need those players/Teams to transcend themselfs... if you can't, you are useless in that field and in my eyes.
 
If you wish for my Feeling regarding Football... Then here it is.
I don't care who win or lose... Whatever it's my country or not...

What I care in Football is to smile and clap when a True "Master" is f*cking each one of them on the field EVEN if it's me in the receiving end, I would have Stopped, Smiled and Clapped, like a little Boy.

I crave for "Beauty"... So when, Per exemple Ronaldinho was Dancing on the Field back in the Days, I loved it, it made me wish to be better in what i was doing (Sport/school etc), Made me stronger.
I crave for the "Commitment" of the Loser, It's Exciting... When you see people fighting till the End like savage beasts... to keep themselves Alive/Relevant...

I believe, if things like that do not animate you, Then it's useless to even open your eyes in front of it.

Pro Football is an Entertainment... it's only a sport when you practicing it. So, for me, I need those players/Teams to transcend themselfs... if you can't, you are useless in that field and in my eyes.

In complete agreement again.

To change the topic a bit;





:lol:

No hope for tomorrow.


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:lol:


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If Arabs can't deliver on the pitch we sure can outsiders of it always.:lol:
 
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Did you try masgouf before?!
This iraqi dish goes back to Sumer and babylon

Of course. Several times. Also in Europe. It is one of my most favorite dishes because I love fish.:D I eat a lot of fish during a normal week. Don't forget the rich seafood tradition of Hijaz.:enjoy:

Yes, just like kleicha dating back millennia (rumored at least).

For example in KSA (Najd) the kleicha tends to be a bit bigger than in Iraq from what I have noticed.



Interestingly, just like with kleicha, there is a similar dish in the Eastern Province of KSA and a similar way of preparing fish. It must be very ancient mutual influences. Those regions (Southern Iraq) and Eastern Arabia are very similar. In fact Southern Iraq is/was considered to part of Eastern Arabia. The region that was called Bahrain after the fall of the Semitic empires in Iraq around 800 BC.

Some scholars contest the idea of a Proto-Euphratean language or one substrate language; they think the Sumerian language may originally have been that of the hunting and fishing peoples who lived in the marshland and the Eastern Arabia littoral region and were part of the Arabian bifacial culture.[12] Reliable historical records begin much later; there are none in Sumer of any kind that have been dated before Enmebaragesi (c. 26th century BC). Juris Zarins believes the Sumerians lived along the coast of Eastern Arabia, today's Persian Gulf region, before it was flooded at the end of the Ice Age.[13]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sumer

Geographically, human migration pattern and geography (the Gulf looked completely different at that time period, it was more or a lake, rather than today not to mention much less arid).

Then you have the close connection (even spiritual) between Sumer and Dilmun. Hence why we have names of Dilmun rulers that are as old as the first known rulers in contemporary Southern Iraq and Egypt.

Dilmun was an important trading centre. At the height of its power, it controlled the Persian Gulf trading routes.[1] According to some modern theories, the Sumeriansregarded Dilmun as a sacred place,[11] but that is never stated in any known ancient text. Dilmun was mentioned by the Mesopotamians as a trade partner, a source of copper, and a trade entrepôt.

The Sumerian tale of the garden paradise of Dilmun may have been an inspiration for the Garden of Eden story.[12][13][14]


https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dilmun

The importance of bulls too.

Bull's head, made of copper in the early period of Dilmun (ca. 2000 BC), discovered by Danish archeologists under Barbar Temple, Bahrain.

Correspondence between Ilī-ippašra, the governor of Dilmun, and Enlil-kidinni, the governor of Nippur, ca. 1350 BC
Regardless of origins (although we know for a fact nowadays that the first humans in the Middle East migrated into the remaining Middle East from Arabia and Sinai) those two regions have had very close ties for millennia (since written history began in the region and btw also the world - since writing was invented in our region) and this continues today obviously although under different identities (no surprise). But appearance wise, dialect, culture, geography, cuisine, have stayed very similar.

I also have noticed that Southern Iraqi Shia Arabs (whether religious ones or traditionalists) have a special affinity for Shia Eastern Arabians more than for anyone else outside of their country. Obviously natural. Also there is affinity for Yemen due to tribal origins. But we are back to square one, namely the closeness of contemporary Iraq and Arabia. You can find similar such examples across the Arab world whether in regards to KSA/Arabia-Egyptian relations (pre-dating Islam by millennia), Arabia-Levant relations, Iraq/Mesopotamia-Levant relations etc.

That's why I always stress what we have in common rather than what divides us as people which is mostly a political aspect. Of course each region has its own distinctive culture and thank God for that but looking at the situation from just 2.5 meters above the surface, the existing divisions are mostly unnatural and completely unnecessary.

But you will always have a minority of idiots on both side whether within a country (divides in Iraq or in KSA based on sect, tribe, region, social status and whatever) but the job is to give as little power to such people so they can keep their rants online or during heated discussions in person.:lol:
 
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Watched the last several minutes of the Morocco-Portugal match, Morocco players locked down on defense and seemed pretty confident but didn't get the best looks. They had a good look at the end but failed to capitalize. Now let's hope Saudi Arabia bounces back, I want to watch a competitive game.

Also looking forward to the Iran-Spain match.

EDIT:


Uruguay already got a good look, thankfully for Saudi Arabia one of their players got there in time to block it. Uruguay is playing aggressive on offensive, KSA is focusing on defense for now. Maybe they will tire them out and switch to offense mode next half.

Why did Saudi goalie keeper move out of goal? Sucks but it is 1-0 still, start being aggressive on offense and make less mistakes. It's hard matching European teams though this is their sport and they are best at it. Yes I know Uruguay is south American but you get my point , lol....

Too many looks for Uruguay so far it's not assuring for sure...
 
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