The ECHO’s Chris Beesley continues his daily series of articles on Everton and the World Cup running throughout the tournament in Qatar.
Everton legend Kevin Sheedy has revealed his pride in the part he played in the biggest World Cup shock of all-time by helping Saudi Arabia’s Hassan Al-Tambakti on the road to stardom and a heroic defensive display against Lionel Messi and his Argentina team-mates. Saudi Arabia stunned Argentina by coming from 1-0 down – in a first half in which the South Americans had the ball in their net on four separate occasions only to have three goals disallowed – to defeat them 2-1 in their opening fixture at Qatar 2022.
Argentina went into the fixture at the 88,966 capacity Lusail Iconic Stadium – that will host next month’s final – unbeaten in their previous 36 matches but after a penalty from Messi, who is considered by many to be the greatest footballer of all-time, put them ahead, two spectacular strikes in the space of five minutes after the break from Saleh Alshehri and Salem Aldawsari saw them tumbling to defeat. Rated 51st in the world by FIFA’s official rankings – a massive 48 places below their opponents – the Saudis surprise success has already been dubbed the biggest upset in the competition’s history and having been roared on by large numbers of supporters who had crossed the border into neighbouring Qatar for the game itself, the jubilant kingdom subsequently declared a national holiday to celebrate the result.
As you’d imagine though, the win was not achieved without some desperate last-ditch defending though and during a nerve-shredding 13 minutes of stoppage time, 23-year-old centre-back Al-Tambakti kept his nerve to cap an immense display. The Daily Mail picked him in their best 11 from the opening round of fixtures and declared that he was: “As good as anyone on the pitch” and that he “marshalled both Messi and Lautaro Martinez exquisitely.”
Their report added: “Argentina threw everything at Saudi Arabia and yet they stood firm, with Al-Tambakti celebrating each crucial defensive intervention like a goal. Keep this up and he'll be hot property in January.”
As well as sparking wild scenes of exultation across the Gulf, the Saudi exploits also prompted a nod of approval in Merseyside from one of Everton’s greatest players. The result brought back memories of the 1-0 humbling that Diego Maradona and company suffered in the first game of the defence of the trophy they’d won in 1986 when facing Cameroon at Milan’s San Siro Stadium in the opening match of the Italia ’90 finals, the tournament in which Sheedy scored Ireland’s first-ever World Cup goal in the 1-1 draw against England before helping Jack Charlton’s heroes reach the last eight – memories of which he has already discussed with the ECHO earlier this month.
However, if it hadn’t had been for Sheedy’s interventions, Al-Tambakti’s career might have stalled before it even got going. The former Blues left winger was appointed youth team coach at the defender’s club Al-Shabab back in 2017 and early on he made a crucial observation.
Sheedy told the ECHO: “Hassan was 17 at the time, he was really raw but had loads of potential. He lived on the outskirts of Riyadh and there’s no public transport and he was unable to get to training every day.
“I’d noticed in the car park of the training ground that there was a few cars that were there in the morning when I arrived and still there in the evening when I left and they weren’t getting used. I went to the people in charge and told them ‘listen, he’s a talented player but he can’t get into training so we need to get him a car.’
“At first they wouldn’t do it so I had to keep knocking on their door every day and wear them down. In the end they agreed and got him a car and with him now training full-time, he got better and better until eventually he made it in their first team.”
Saudi Arabia’s French-born coach Herve Renard has denied reports that each one of Saudi Arabia’s players have been promised a luxury Rolls-Royce Phantom each after defeating Argentina, but Sheedy recalls how a young Tambakti was delighted with the rather more modest vehicle he managed to acquire for him. He said: “It was only an old banger but I think I remember one day when he turned up he had about eight team-mates in the car with him because he’d picked everybody up! He was a really good lad and it’s nice to see how if you can help someone get on a rung of the ladder and they’re able to work themselves up to play in the World Cup.”
Although Saudi Arabia’s victory over Argentina stunned the football world, having worked in the country for a prolonged period, Sheedy was aware of the potential among their pool of players and can understand why Al-Tambakti – who was sorely missed after being left on the bench for his nation’s 2-0 defeat to Poland on Saturday – is now being linked with a potential transfer to Europe. He said: “I was surprised because it was obviously a big shock result but in other ways I wasn’t surprised because during my time over there, working with the first team alongside Mike Newell, we knew there were loads of talented Saudi players, they just didn’t have the end product.
“To see those goals that they scored, proper top-class goals, they have improved with their finishing techniques. If you look back to Hassan and how he was in his early days, he’s a top, top player now and he was giving everything and putting his body on the line to snuff out the threat from Lionel Messi and the rest of Argentina’s attackers.
“I worked with him for nine months and although he was raw, he had the qualities to make it as he was big, strong and with pace but was good on the ball as well. I would think there could be some transfer interest from Europe now in these players as although it was just one game, the likes of Hassan have shown they’ve got it in their lockers so I wouldn’t be surprised if he did get a move.”
Incredibly, Al-Tambakti is just one of a trio of players at the current World Cup finals to have learned their trade under the guidance of 63-year-old Sheedy, who won two League Championships, an FA Cup and European Cup-Winners’ Cup during his time as a player at Goodison Park. He said: “I will be the only youth coach who has coached three players to play at the same World Cup for three different countries. Alongside Hassan, there’s Eric Dier for England and the USA’s Antonee Robinson, both of whom played under me at Everton.
“It’s a proud moment for me to see these three lads all playing. You just try and help these young players along the road in different ways, both on and off the field, as they look to fulfil their dreams and progress to become professional footballers.”
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