Saudi

It’s a given. Whenever there’s a Euro or a World Cup, I do a rundown of the teams that will be competing. Those of you who remember I did it for the 2014 World Cup, I’m back. As I did for 2014, I will again do a separate blog for each of the eight Group Stage groups. Once again, I will give a preview of the twelve stadiums that will be the stages for this event and save the stadium for the Grand Final for last. Now let’s start with Group A. For the record, my summary of the teams will be done in their drawn World Cup order rather than their FIFA ranking of May 2018. FIFA ranking of that month will appear in brackets.

GROUP A:

-Russia (66)- Russia had its glory days on the World Cup scene back during the days of the USSR. Since the USSR dissolved in 1992, Russia has qualified for three World Cups but always ended its trip in the group stage. It’s been a frustration. They went through two top ranked Dutch coaches Guss Hiddink and Dick Advocaat and Italian coach Fabio Capello, but would always come up short. Just before Euro 2016, they went back to a Russian coach, Leonid Slutsky, but again fell out in the group stage. Since Euro 2016, they’ve stuck to having a Russian coach. This time it’s Stanislav Cherchesov whose managed Dynamo Moscow and Legia Warsaw in the past.

The Russian team still remain an enigma. Only three of the team’s players play for teams outside Russia. Their recent game results also come into question. They’ve played six games since the Confederations Cup, but only won one: against South Korea 4-2. They’ve since had to deal with losses to big-name teams like Argentina, Brazil and France. The world Cup draw is made so that the host nation doesn’t have that hard of a time to make it past the group stage. Russia’s chances look comfortable as Uruguay appears to be its only tough rival. How far Russia goes is up for the world to see.

-Saudi Arabia (67)- The Saudi team looked like it was heading to better times after they made it past the Round of 16 at World Cup 1994. However the big reluctance to export players to the bigger European clubs has always proved to be the biggest obstacle. The Saudi team would face an exit at the Group Stage during the next three World Cups.

Russia 2018 marks the first World Cup since 2006 with the presence of the Saudi team. All but three of their team members play for Saudi teams. The other three play for La Liga teams from Spain. As for play, Saudi Arabia does not have a very consistent record for the past year. Their biggest win this past year came through Greece. However they’ve also had to endure losses to Belgium, Iraq and Portugal. However anything’s possible in football and the Saudi’s could surprise in Russia.

-Egypt (46)- This is only the second time Egypt has been to the World Cup. The only other time is in 1990. However Egypt is ready to play well. They’ve hired Argentine coach Hector Cuper to coach the team. The team’s players play for various team in Egypt, Europe and the US. However many consider the heart and soul of the team to be led by 26 year-old Mohamed Salah who as a striker for Liverpool won 2017 CAF footballer of the year. Many see Salah as an emerging great and could boost team Egypt in the future.

Their record leading up to World Cup 2018 is very much in question. Their only wins this past year have come against African teams. Their last win against a team from outside Africa was Bosnia-Hercegovina back in 2014. This year they’ve faced losses to Portugal and Greece. Russia is another proving point for ‘The Pharoahs.’ They may be out in the group stage or they may surprise everyone.

-Uruguay (17)- This is the team from Group A that has the most clout. For a long time, Uruguay was seen as a team that was a blast from the past. Their biggest glory days came with World Cup wins in 1930 and 1950 and Olympic gold medals in 1924 and 1928. However a resurgence of Uruguay on the world scene starting with World Cup 2010 has catapulted the team back to the top of the world elite. It started with Diego Forlan and has now transferred to Luis Suarez. Uruguay’s stint at the 2014 ended in disgrace after Suarez was banned from nine games following a biting incident on an Italian player. And to think Chewy Louie was the player that infamously blocked a potential goal from Ghana at 2010.

Since the incident, Suarez has kept his promise of not ever biting another opponent. He has matured a lot as a player since and serves as Uruguay’s top star. However Uruguay is not just Suarez. The team also boasts another top striker in Edinson Cavani, midfielder Cristian Rodriguez and top defencemen Diego Godin and Maxi Pereira. Uruguay can prove themselves to be a top force to be reckoned with here in Russia.

So there’s my review of the first World Cup group. As for predictions, I’ll just settle for predicting the two countries that will advance past the Group Stage right now, and I predict it will be Russia and Uruguay.

STADIUM SPOTLIGHT

Once again, I get to focus on the various stadia that are hosting the World Cup. I figure the arenas are worth talking about. Russia will have has twelve stadia that will facilitate for the World Cup including two in Moscow. Only three are older than ten years old. All are situated in the European cluster of Russia. Just like Brazil in 2014, Russia all twelve of the stadiums will hold four Group Stage matches but they will be matches for four different groups. Also just like in Brazil 2014, all six of the Group Stage games for each individual group will again be played in six different stadiums, and not all will be that close by. Once again, a lot of traveling around for the 32 teams in a huge cluster of a country. One of which, they will have to cross the border of Lithuania to play in.

It’s confusing, but no less confusing than Brazil 2014. Here I’ll give you my first taste of my Stadium Spotlight of 2018. Note that each stadium I show in my Stadium Spotlight feature will be a stadium that will contest Group Stage matches for each respective group. These two I will focus on will host Group Stage matches in Group A. So without further ado, here are the two stadiums in focus:

-YEKATERINBURG: Central Stadium

Year Opened: 1957

World Cup Capacity: 35,696

World Cup Groups Hosting: A, C, F, H

Central Stadium is one of only two stadiums at this World Cup that was built in the 20th Century. Though there’s no doubt they’ve had to undergo extensive renovations over the years including preparations for this year’s World Cup. Actually the arena was a stadium for speed skating. The shift to football and other sports have been the focus since the downfall of the USSR.

The stadium will have 12,000 temporary seats for the World Cup. After the World Cup, it will be the host venue for team FC Ural Yekaterinburg. In addition, there are plans to add a fitness centre and a Valeological centre.

-SAMARA: Cosmos Arena

Year Opened: 2018

World Cup Capacity: 42,374

World Cup Groups Hosting: A, C, E, H

Additional World Cup Matches Contested: Round of 16 (E1 vs. F2) & a quarter-final

Cosmos is one of many stadiums built fresh for this World Cup. It came at a cost of $320 million. The building of the stadium was first meant to be built on an island close to the city, but the intended construction of a bridge, and the public’s uproar over its total expense, led it to be built in the north area of the city.

After the World Cup, it will be the host venue of team FC Krylia Sovetov Samara.

And there you go. My first preview of the World Cup teams and stadiums. Seven more groups and ten more stadiums to review before World Cup 2018 starts. Stay tuned for more.

barakahmeetsbarakah_04 — *Barakah Meets Barakah* is a Saudi film of a man and a woman from separate societies who fall in love.

On opening night of this year’s Vancouver International Film Festival, I had the good fortune to see Barakah Meets Barakah. It is Saudi Arabia’s official entry in the Best Foreign Language Film category for this year’s Oscars and proved to be an enjoyable film.

At the beginning of the film, we meet Barakah: a young man from a section of Jeddah full of tradition and religious values. However Barakah does have a liking for the arts and especially drama as he agrees to perform in a community production of Hamlet. We also meet Bibi: a young woman who’s a local celebrity in the city due to her popularity both on television and in social media where she commonly posts videos of her speaking a message. In fact her mother who adopted her is one of the heads of the network. Both are opposite personalities as Barakah is a civil servant obedient to tradition while Bibi is very liberal both in what she wears on television and what she says in her Instagram videos which feature just her mouth talking. Both however live in a time where religious law is strictly enforced in Saudi Arabia.

The two meet for the first time by a bizarre circumstance. Bibi has a modeling shoot out by the coast where her face, arms and chest are very visible. Barakah is commissioned to stop it because the shoot hasn’t been licensed on the property. However he does eventually compromise. The two later meet again by accident. This time it becomes something despite his dating skills being non-existent.

Despite their feelings for each other, dating would be next to impossible. Barakah lives in area full of common people and Bibi is more the high society of the town. On top of that, there’s the religious police who are very suspicious of unmarried unchaperoned pairs out on a date. There are criminal penalties for that under religious law. Their dates have to be completely secret. Over time, they become a lot more even with the help of Barakah’s friends.

Dating does become difficult as Barakah keeps his love secret from others. Even Bibi faces difficulties as her mother is disapproving. However the mother finds something positive out of this when she visits the townswoman in Barakah’s neighborhood, who plays a mother figure to Barakah, to ‘cure’ her of her infertility. It works as it is announced she will have a baby. Instead of it bringing Barakah and Bibi closer together, it causes more friction.

Eventually it does come to a point when the two do call it quits. They can’t handle it anymore. It’s not until Bibi learns a truth about herself and how her mother appears to treat her as ‘disposable’ that there’s the turning point. The film ends convincing us that it was meant to be after all.

It’s very obvious in this film writer/director Mahmoud Sabbagh has something to say about imposed religious values in Saudi Arabia. It’s not just about it causing a detriment to people’s daily lives but also how it has robbed the people of progress and hope they were anticipating in decades past. As a Catholic, I can understand this belief. I’ve seen how the Church has influenced strict moral laws on the people in a lot of countries in the past and now most people in those countries are sick of the Church. Just ask Ireland. I believe morals and values work better on people when they adopt them themselves rather than have them forced upon them.

Although the film makes Islamic law look more like a problem than a help, he is able to make his statement in a comedic way in this film. Yes, religious law in these countries has resulted in a lot of deaths and unnecessary imprisonments and has even led to a lot of friction and civil unrest. Nevertheless Sabbagh is able to make light of the problem by creating a romance that is both critical of imposed religious law in his country but also able to satirize it too. He satirizes it in the scene where Bibi is taking an Instagram photo of the henna tattoo of her belly by blurring her belly for all of us. He also sends a message when Barakah takes the mini-Koran dangling from his rear-view mirror and replaces it with the thing given to him by Bibi.

The film not only focuses on religious influence in Saudi Arabia but also about the classism there. The separation of the upper class and the common or lower class are commonly shown in films but Sabbagh shows what the gap is like in Saudi Arabia. It’s a common thing in most developing countries for the gap to be that much bigger. No wonder something like that would cause friction in a romance between Barakah and Bibi. Even knowing how her mother calls her Bibi instead of her real name Barakah possibly to hide Bibi’s poor past is there to send the message.

Sabbagh succeeds in delivering a comedy that’s both smart and thought-provoking. He does have a message to deliver but he delivers it in an entertaining way with the right moves and without it being overly preachy. The film has already won a special prize at this year’s Berlin Film Festival. Hisham Fageeh was very good as the common young man Barakah as was Fatima Al-Banawi as the progressive Bibi. There also good supporting performances from the actress playing the local townswoman and the actress playing Bibi’s mother.

Barakah Meets Barakah is a good comedy that will both make you laugh and get you thinking. Also in a time when ISIS has made a lot of bad news, it is welcome comic relief.

Jon The Blogcentric

All the Shtuff that's fit for ME to print!

World Cup 2018 Preview: Group A

VIFF 2016 Review: Barakah Meets Barakah (بركة يقابل بركة)