DUBAI: Saudi Arabia’s preparations for the World Cup got off to a perfect start with a comprehensive 3-0 friendly win over Moldova at King Abdullah Sport City Stadium in Jeddah on Monday night.
Omar Hawsawi opened the scoring in the first half and then Taisir Al-Jassim and Mohannad Assiri were on target in the second period to ensure coach Juan Antonio Pizzi got his reign off to a winning start.
Pizzi, who gave debuts to Mohammed Al-Kuwaikbi Abdulwahab Jaafar, will have been thrilled with the clean sheet, meaning he has a solid base to work from, while the fact the Green Falcons scored three goals bodes well, particularly as they only managed two goals in their final 270 minutes of football under previous coach Edguardo Bauza.
This was pretty much Pizzi’s strongest available team and they should only get better once playmaker Nawaf Al-Abed, who is working his way back from injury, and the players on loan in Spain, particularly Salem Al-Dawsari and Fahad Al-Muwallad, are integrated back in.
What was so impressive about the performance against Moldova was the way Saudi Arabia dominated from start to finish, enjoying 72 percent of the possession and registering 18 shots to Moldova’s six.
The Green Falcons got off to a flying start when Al-Nassr center-back Hawsawi blasted the ball into the roof of the net just ten minutes into the game after the Moldovan defense failed to clear Al-Jassim’s corner kick.
Al-Jassim went from architect to executioner ten minutes after half-time, doubling Saudi Arabia’s lead when he collected a pass from Mohammed Al-Sahlawi and buried it into the bottom corner from 25 yards out.
The closest the visitors came to scoring was on 65 minutes when Vladimir Ambros outmuscled Hawsawi inside the box and unleashed a left-footed effort from a close range, but goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Owais was well positioned to parry away the strike.
At the other end, Mohammed Al-Sahlawi thought he had scored his 29th goal for his country when he met Yasser Al-Shahrani’s cross with a powerful header in the 74th minute, but goalkeeper Serghei Pascenco flew to his left to push the attempt behind for a corner kick.
The third goal did arrive, though, two minutes from time when substitutes Al-Kuwaikbi and Mohannad Assiri combined for Assiri, the Al-Ahli striker, to dink in his fourth international goal and his first in more than seven years.
The Green Falcons are back in action on Wednesday when they take largely a second-string team to play Iraq in Basra.
Saudi Arabia: Mohammed Al-Owais; Yasser Al-Shahrani, Osama Hawsawi (Motaz Hawsawi 69), Omar Hawsawi, Mansour Al-Harbi; Abdulmalik Al-Khaibari (Ibrahim Ghaleb 46), Abdullah Otayf, Hussein Al-Moqahwi (Mohammed Kanno 46), Taisir Al-Jassim (Abdulwahab Jaafar 75), Salman Al-Moasher (Mohammed Al-Kuwaikbi 46); Mohammed Al-Sahlawi (Mohannad Assiri 81)
Saudi Arabia kick off World Cup preparation with handsome win over Moldova
Saudi Arabia kick off World Cup preparation with handsome win over Moldova
Canada’s Lee sets pace, Kim in the hunt for LIV Golf wild card spots
- LIV Golf Promotions in Florida offers top 3 finishers a chance to play in 2026 regular season
LECANTO: Canada’s Richard T. Lee has proved the player to watch during the first three days at LIV Golf Promotions and is now well-placed for a wild-card spot in the 2026 LIV Golf season.
Anthony Kim, meanwhile, found another gear on the back nine on Saturday, putting him in a better position to return to full-time status in the league.
The final 18 holes of the 36-hole shootout at Black Diamond Ranch take place on Sunday with a potentially career-changing reward for the top three finishers — guaranteed LIV Golf wild-card status for 2026. In addition, the top 10 and ties earn exemptions into the Asian Tour’s International Series.
For the second time this week, Lee led the field with a bogey-free 6-under 64. The 35-year-old will take a two-shot lead over his closest pursuers going into Sunday, giving him a significant advantage. However, he does not plan to take his foot off the gas.
“Honestly, I don’t think it would be comfortable for any player to have a two-shot lead on the last day,” said Lee, who has two eagles, 13 birdies and just one bogey in his 54 competitive holes this week. “I’ll just put my hat on and just play my golf.”
Kim is among three players who are tied for second after shooting a bogey-free 4-under 66, along with South Africa’s Oliver Bekker and Thailand’s Jazz Janewattananond. Denmark’s Lucas Bjerregaard is solo fifth after his 3-under 67, with five other players lurking at 1 under.
Kim, who played as a wild card in the past two seasons following his return to competitive golf after a 12-year retirement, was just 1 under through 12 holes on Saturday. But he made consecutive lengthy birdie putts at the 13th and 14th holes, birdied the par-5 16th, then saved par with a 15-footer at the par-4 18th that circled the cup before dropping.
“I have an opportunity to get one of those spots,” said the 40-year-old, the only American to advance to the weekend. “That’s what I asked for coming into this week and put myself in a good position. Now I’ve just got to go finish.”
Kim would not be in this position had he not made an 8-foot birdie putt on the 18th on Friday to make the cut on the number.
“I knew that if I didn’t make birdie on 18 [Friday] that my chances of playing on LIV next year were gone, and to me that’s a big deal,” Kim said. “I’d like to play at the highest level against the best players. It meant a lot to me.”
Bekker was part of LIV Golf’s inaugural field at the 2022 London tournament. Four seasons later, he’s excited about the opportunity to return to the league as a full-time member.
“Thinking back on it now, I had the opportunity to play a few more events, and now I’m like, well, maybe I should have played them,” he said. “The water was a bit rough at that stage and didn’t know what was going to happen, so I played it a bit safe. Luckily, I’ve been given another opportunity this week, and hopefully I can take it.”
Janewattananond won four tournaments in 2019 when he became a top 50 world player and, aged 30, still has years left in his competitive career. After shooting a second-round 67 to advance to the weekend, he shot a 66 on Saturday that included four birdies in a six-hole stretch to end his front nine.
“It’s a very big prize at the end of the day,” he said. “Those three spots up for grabs, it would give me freedom to play wherever I want and security for my family.”
The 34-year-old Bjerregaard, a two-time winner on the DP World Tour, said earning full-time LIV Golf status would be career-changing.
“Where I am in my career right now, it’s probably that or retirement,” he said. “Yeah, that would mean a lot for sure.”
Although nothing is guaranteed, Lee has played so well this week that there may be just two spots available for the remainder of the field.
“We’re not playing for one spot,” said Janewattananond. “I don’t have to worry about him. I just have to worry about myself.”
“He played great today,” added Bjerregaard, playing in the same group as Lee on Saturday. “But I would be happy with any of the other two spots, so that’s fine. I can finish third. I wouldn’t mind.”
