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Surprise defeat
Saudi Arabia's senior side had barely finished celebrating their Arabian Gulf Cup triumph after a 23-year absence before the youth team tasted an embarrassing defeat in the same competition.
The seniors were crowned champions of the Arabian Gulf Cup, "Gulf 27", on 6 October, beating the UAE 2-0 in the final.
Around 10 days later, Saudi Arabia played their first match in the Arabian Gulf Youth Cup, which Qatar is hosting until 4 November.
Their opener pitted the Saudi youth side against Egypt's under-17s, invited to the Gulf tournament as a guest along with China.
Goalless at the break, the game then fell apart. Egypt flooded the Saudi net with five second-half goals.
Mohamed Gamal opened the scoring in the 54th minute from a penalty, before Ziad Saudi added the second in the 80th minute, then Ahmed Safwat in the 85th, Khaled Mahmoud (90+6) and finally Ahmed Bashir (90+8).
Saudi fans were furious. They tore into the levels shown by the youth players and demanded the course be corrected quickly.
Saudi Arabia sit in Group B of the Arabian Gulf Under-17 Youth Cup alongside Iraq, Kuwait, Yemen and Egypt.
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