Aged 21: a deep-rooted jinx threatens Saudi Arabia in the friendly against South Korea

Saudi Arabia go into their eagerly awaited friendly against South Korea with one major underlying objective: ending a long-standing jinx that has persisted for 21 full years.

Saudi Arabia will face South Korea tomorrow, Friday, at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in the Qatari capital Doha, in a friendly match in preparation for upcoming commitments.

According to the Saudi channel "Al Arabiya", this will be the 19th meeting between Saudi Arabia and South Korea at both friendly and official levels, dating back to their first encounter in 1980.

Across the previous 18 matches, Saudi Arabia have claimed 5 wins to South Korea's 6, with 7 ending in a draw.

The last Saudi win, though, came 21 years ago. Back in 2005, they beat South Korea home and away by 2-0 and 1-0 in the 2006 World Cup qualifiers.

Six matches have followed since, and Saudi Arabia have failed to win any of them. South Korea took two, while the other 4 finished level.

Friday's game marks the seventh friendly between the sides, a series that began in 1980. South Korea hold the edge with two wins to Saudi Arabia's one, alongside 3 draws.

Saudi Arabia's most memorable win over South Korea came in the semi-final of the 2000 AFC Asian Cup, when Talal Al-Meshal scored both goals in a 2-1 victory.

Their last meeting came in the round of 16 at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup. It finished 1-1 in normal time before South Korea edged through to the quarter-final on penalties.

The fixture arrives amid a charged mood among Saudi fans, following numerous reports that Greek coach Georgios Donis could be dismissed as head coach of the senior national team.

Saudi media figure Abdulrahman Al-Humaidi, presenter of the "Nadina" programme on "MBC 1", had claimed Donis would leave his post with a 99% probability.

Donis hit back at those reports in comments to the Saudi newspaper "Al-Riyadiah", saying: "I am not concerned by the rumours that are circulated from time to time about my professional future with Saudi Arabia."

He added: "What concerns me at present is developing the national team and focusing on the work. I have the experience to deal with what is going on around my professional future, and I will give the best I have in order to serve Saudi football."

His comments echoed a statement from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, as reported by the Saudi channel "Al-Ekhbariya", denying any possibility of dismissing the Greek coach and confirming he will stay on.

That makes it the second time the Saudi Arabian Football Federation have denied reports of Donis's departure, having already done so last October.

Several reports had claimed the Saudi federation intended to sign Spaniard Roberto Martinez, the former Portugal head coach, to lead the national team at the 2027 AFC Asian Cup in place of Donis.

Those reports sparked anger among Saudi supporters, particularly given the limited time before the Asian tournament, prompting the federation's denial.

Pushing back the 2027 AFC Asian Cup from January to December of next year, however, has revived the debate over Donis's future, with far more time now available before the tournament.