Between the Saudi national team and Al-Hilal: how did Mohammed Al-Owais's dreams turn into nightmares?
The international goalkeeper is suffering
Vital outings have become nightmares haunting international goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais at club level with Al-Hilal, even as they play out like rosy, happy dreams whenever he pulls on the Saudi national team shirt.
Al-Hilal travelled to Qatar on Tuesday to face Al-Shamal at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al-Khor, in the third round of the league stage of the AFC Champions League Elite.
Al-Hilal's nightmare
Wessam Said broke the deadlock in the eighth minute, lashing a low left-footed effort into the net from inside the box to put the Qatari side ahead.
That strike was the third to beat Al-Owais in just three appearances for Al-Hilal this season.
The Saudi goalkeeper has managed a single clean sheet, in the 2-0 win over Al-Raed in the round of 32 of the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup last August.
He then started against Neom in the sixth round of the Saudi Roshn League and shipped two goals, a result that handed "the Boss" their only defeat of the campaign.
Saudi i'jaz
The timing is strange, coming just as Al-Owais shines on the international stage with Saudi Arabia.
The Saudi goalkeeper has kept a clean sheet in each of his last six matches for his country, a run that started against Cape Verde in the third round of the group stage of the 2026 World Cup.
He went on to shut out opponents across all five games at the Arabian Gulf Cup "Gulf 27", a tournament Saudi Arabia won.
Those performances earned Mohammed Al-Owais the award for best goalkeeper of the Gulf tournament.
Al Owais's dreams have become a nightmare
Al-Owais returned to Al-Hilal during the last summer transfer window, after a single season away from the club, carrying plenty of dreams on the back of his standout performances at the 2026 World Cup.
Chief among those dreams was a desire to carry his World Cup form with Saudi Arabia into a second spell at "the Boss", reclaiming his place in the starting line-up at the expense of Morocco's Yassine Bounou.
Instead, Al-Owais found himself behind the Moroccan from day one. Three appearances, one clean sheet. His dreams suddenly look a long way off.
Worse still, he may remain a substitute at Al-Hilal for the rest of the season. That leaves his place in the Saudi national team, and his grip on the starting spot, hanging by a thread.
