Saudi Arabia and Croatia… first confrontation and last experience

The first Saudi football team will conclude its preparations to participate in the 2022 World Cup in Qatar by facing Croatia, on Wednesday, at Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, in an international test match, the first between the two teams.
Al-Akhdar prepared for the World Cup through three stages, the first and second in Spain, during which he played 4 test matches, while the third stage was in the UAE capital Abu Dhabi, where he organized a camp for 25 days, during which he played 5 test matches, where he defeated Macedonia «1 -0» and against Iceland with the same result, and tied with Ecuador and America negatively, as tied «1-1» with Panama.
The Saudi green is participating in the World Cup for the sixth time, the best of which was in the first in 1994 when it reached the final price of the tournament hosted by the United States of America.
Saudi Arabia will play its first match in the World Cup next Tuesday against Argentina, in Group C, which includes Mexico and Poland.
The French coach, Hervé Renard, announced earlier the final list, which included 7 players who had previously participated in the last World Cup in 2018 in Russia.
It is expected that Renard will introduce the basic elements that he will rely on in official matches, especially after Salman Al-Faraj, Sultan Al-Ghannam and Saleh Al-Shehri have recovered from injuries and reached readiness.
For his part, Croatia coach Zlatko Dalic commented on his prospective opponent, saying, “It is a combative team, and we will do our best.”
“We have to go into the match with 100 percent focus, and there is no other way, and of course, I hope to win,” Dalic said, speaking to state-run HRT television.
The 56-year-old coach added, “I hope it will be a good match.. We are playing a match with a good competitor, and I am following their teams and their league. A lot has changed since I left Saudi Arabia, but there are players I trained and I know their quality.. I expect a difficult duel, and I hope there will not be any.” Injuries and for the two teams to go through a good test.”
Dalic revealed the participation of captain Luka Modric and veteran Ivan Perisic in the match, adding: “But the number of minutes is still unknown.”