Switzerland’s Manuel Navarro, head of the Saudi Football Association’s main arbitration committee, felt that Al Akhdar’s players were reaping the rewards of playing in such a strong competition as the Saudi Roshen league and were able to keep up with the stars of the Argentine national team, and even outstripped them.
Navarro confirmed in an interview with Al-Madina newspaper from Qatar’s capital, Doha, that the Saudi Arabian team presented the match for history, and sharply responded to everyone who advertised before the start of the tournament that this was the weakest team in this group. .
Navarro praised Slovenia’s Slavko Vincic, referee of the national team’s match against Argentina, stressing that the accuracy of refereeing decisions contributed to Saudi Arabia’s superiority, and pointed out that the penalty decision was one of the toughest decisions.
* First of all, Mr. Manuel, we thank you for walking with us through the pages of Al-Madina, in an interview with Al-Madina.
I am very glad to be with you in your newspaper.
* How did you watch the match between Saudi Arabia and your Argentine counterpart?
It was a historic match. The Saudi Arabia national team did a great job. This day will forever remain in the memory of all those who follow the World Cup.
What do you think are the reasons for this victory?
– I liked the psychological presence of the players, the spirit of a united team, and the fact that Saudi football has developed terribly thanks to the great and limitless support and constant monitoring by officials from the Minister of Sports, Prince Abdulaziz. bin Turki Al-Faisal, as well as everything I saw, all helped each other, as if they were one family of players and technical staff and administrative.
Everyone was waiting for the Argentinean to win. Did you expect the same?
A team like Argentina is always a candidate before any match, but here in the World Cup they are a candidate for the title and not just to win the match, but the Saudi team played with great enthusiasm and focus in the match, especially in the second half , which was completely different from the first half, as Al-Akhdar looked shaky and confused. In addition, the Argentina national team relied solely on Messi’s decisions and missed the game in one group, and football plays 11 against 11, so at the end of the match Saudi Arabia deserved to win .
And this victory was in response to everyone who said that the Saudi Arabian national team is an obscure team, and everyone looked before the match that the match was decided, and now everyone will count a thousand bills for the Saudi Arabian national team, and maybe the power of the Saudi League, which, from my point of view, the first on the Asian continent, helped in the emergence of the national team. In this good sense, we also have to pay tribute to two goals, especially Salem’s goal, which came after a great professional job.
How do you referee in the match?
– The arbitrage was perfect and the arbitrator handled the match to the fullest, and I believe that the accuracy of the arbitral decisions outweighed the Saudi Arabian team, and if it were otherwise, Argentina would have won, especially in the goals that were canceled due to offside, and there were also difficult cases in which the referee excelled with regard to penalties. This solution is related to the arena rule and I think this is one of the tricky cases.
* What are the expectations of the team after the first victory?
– The percentage of the Saudi Arabian team to advance to the 1/8 finals has become large, and the match against Poland must be played by players with high concentration, relying on the ground ball, because the Polish team is physically strong, and the Saudi Arabian national team must forget the match against Argentina and come out with high concentration and they should win in honor of their colleague Yasser Al-Shahrani who suffered a serious injury, I wish him a speedy recovery.
Question: In closing, Mr. Navarro, what is your message to the audience?
– I am proud to be in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and I find universal respect and appreciation in this hospitable country. I always wish every success for Saudi Arabia at all levels.
