"Club fanaticism is reprehensible".. A Saudi prince responds to critics of Abdullah Al-Hamdan

To follow the Saudi football channel on WhatsApp from Afaq News in Arabic, click here - Saudi Prince Abdulrahman bin Musaid expressed his happiness at the qualification of his country's national team to the semi-finals of the "Gulf Arab" Cup, held in the city of Jeddah. The "Green" team qualified for the semi-finals after topping the first group with 9 points, following three victories.

Saudi striker Abdullah Al-Hamdan failed to score or assist in the first two matches against Kuwait and Oman, which led to criticism. However, he managed to find the net against Iraq at the end of the group stage, scoring his first goal in "Gulf 27". The Saudi prince wrote on his account on the "X" platform on Wednesday night: "Congratulations to the Saudi national team for qualifying for the semi-finals of the Gulf Championship with full points and a clean sheet. This qualification is encouraging, and surely the Saudi audience will not be satisfied without winning the championship, and we say God is generous."

Regarding Abdullah Al-Hamdan, he said: "I am happy that Abdullah Al-Hamdan scored a goal against Iraq. He is a diligent and fighting player who lacks calmness and the ability to distance himself from pressure. The team's attack is good and reasonably reassuring with the presence of Firas, Al-Hamdan, and Al-Salem. What they need is support and to have more confidence in their abilities, and the future is better, God willing." He added: "I repeat my plea not to view the team through the lens of club bias... all players carry the emblem of our great country under the greatest, noblest, and purest banner."

Abdulrahman bin Musaid reshared a tweet from a follower that stated: "There was pressure on the player and criticism that exceeded technical criticism, affecting the player's psyche." The Saudi prince responded to the tweet, saying: "This indeed happened with Al-Hamdan, and it has happened before with other players in the same manner, perhaps even harsher, like Salem Al-Dosari as an example. This confirms that there is targeting and scrutiny, not just criticism, as no player is above criticism, but the targeting and scrutiny due to club bias is something reprehensible. There were those who saw Al-Hamdan as a very poor player when he was at Al-Hilal, and they are the same ones who now praise him as one of the best players."

He continued: "As for me, I have always seen and still see that Al-Hamdan is one of the best strikers in Saudi Arabia right now, along with Firas Al-Buraikan... and we should not forget that there has been a long-standing crisis in the striker position in the national team because almost all teams in the league have foreign players as their main strikers."