Saudi Arabia is one of the few Asian nations given a shot at the World Cup title. Although most teams coming from the continent are commonly underdogs when competing against stronger European and South American sides, we’ve seen surprising moments come from these matchups. Group C is where the Arabian Falcons begin their campaign, and Nitrobetting checks out one of the squad’s key pieces in this 2022 FIFA World Cup Player Spotlight: Salem Al-Dawsari.

2022 FIFA World Cup Player Spotlight: Salem Al-Dawsari

Salem Al-Dawsari is wearing his Saudi Arabia shirt against Russia.

The 8 has been printed upside down ???? #WorldCup pic.twitter.com/FYtpISVfVg

— Indy Football (@IndyFootball) June 14, 2018

READ MORE: Aleksandar Mitrovic 2022 FIFA World Cup Preview

La Liga exposure

Al-Dawsari spent most of his career with the Al Hilal Saudi Football Club. He joined the team as a youth player. He joined Spanish side Villareal on loan in 2018 as part of a deal between the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. Although his time in European club soccer was short-lived, he is one of the few packing some experience playing in the eastern hemisphere. His only appearance was against La Liga giants Real Madrid as Villareal forced a 2-2 draw late into the match.

In 207 appearances for Al-Hilal, the winger found the back of the net 47 times. He’s been part of the club’s core team since joining in 2011 and has proven to be a crucial piece of their success in the Saudi Professional League.

Dribbling brilliance

The winger claimed the Best Player award as Al-Hilal secured the 2021 Asian Champions League. He also radiated when his club fought for the Saudi Arabian title number 17. Most would agree that he is the best player in Saudi Arabia’s lineup.

Al-Dawsari’s decisive and imaginative attributes make him a special one. This 2022 FIFA World Cup Player Spotlight: Salem Al-Dawsari commends the inspiration of creative moments, dribbling, and delivery of the ball. Comparisons, albeit on a smaller scale, can be applied to Brazil star Neymar. Another relevant benchmark for the winger is fellow Saudi Arabian star Saeed Al Owairan, one of the most impressive dribblers ever to come from Asia and whose jolting solo effort against Sweden was voted sixth-best in FIFA’s Goal of the Century list.

Saudi Arabia’s Rabbit’s foot

It’s been over a decade since the Riyadh native was called up to the Saudi Arabian national team. He was part of the roster that participated in the 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers where he scored his first international goal in an away match against Australia in 2012.

Although the nation failed to qualify for the 2014 tournament, he was given a second shot at the competition in May 2018 and was part of the preliminary squad for the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia. On June 25 that same year, the winger scored a late goal to win over Egypt in their final group stage match of the tournament. They now come into the first round of the 2022 FIFA World Cup as +3,300 sleepers to win Group C.

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