International friendlies: Germany 2-1 Saudi Arabia, 5 Talking Points

#4 Al Sahlawi’s rotten touch is a worry for Falcons

A-Sahlawi missed a penalty

Saudi Arabia striker Mohammad Al-Sahlawi’s international career is quite chequered. Despite his prolific league record, he wasn’t a regular in the national set-up until 2015. But the 16 goals he scored in the qualifiers - joint-highest among all zones - helped him attain an important role in the side.

Against Germany, it was an opportunity to flex his scoring muscle once again before the World Cup begins, but he cut a frustrated figure after coming on from the bench. His first touches were poor and he lacked the flair with which he cut through the defenses in the qualifiers. Of course, this is Germany and you can’t expect him to plunder 3 or 4 goals like he did in those games, but he wasn’t without his chances here.

Two of his attempts missed the target and the penalty miss capped off his poor evening. His attempt was repelled by ter Stegen, although Saudi did score on the rebound. But that doesn’t mask his rotten touch. 24 of Al-Sahlawi’s 28 goals have come since January 2015, but to muster even an iota of that form and bag a goal or two in Russia, he needs to do better than this.