Nayef, Don’t Go!

Nayef Hazazi has sustained a Cruciate ligament injury in a friendly match against the Malaysian National Team. He went in on a Malaysian player with a poor tackle and only got himself hurt. He’ll be out for the rest of the season. Al-Nasr player Rayan Bilal has been called up to fill the roster.

While, this is a huge blow to the Green Falcons, it’s not as bad as it seems at first. Saudi Arabia has always had strikers in abundance. Malek Mauth came on for Hazazi and showed good form to find the net in his first match for the NT after recovering from his injury. Saad Al Harthi has also finally overcame his own cruciate ligament injury and featured for his club Al-Nasr by scoring a brace in their 9-0 demolition of lowly Al-Watani in the Prince Faisal Cup.

We wish good luck to Naif and hope he still has a chance to feature in the 2010 World Cup.