Russia was once famously described as “a riddle, wrapped in a mystery, inside an enigma,” and this 5-0 victory – emphatic though it was – offered few answers to the many questions that surround the quality of the World Cup hosts.
In Saudi Arabia’s case however, there should be no such doubts. Based on their showing here, Juan Antonio Pizzi’s side will be the worst team at this World Cup by a comfortable margin – a mess, wrapped in a muddle, inside an outright shambles.
According to Fifa’s much-maligned rankings system, this opening game was destined to be the lowest-quality game of the tournament. Even after such a dominant win for Russia, once all is said and done, it will be not far off.
Yet on this evidence, the 70th-placed hosts – an uninspiring but organised outfit that is moderately effective at playing direct – deserve to sit higher than the Saudis – apparently the world’s 67th-best international side, but seemingly incapable of setting up a defence.
Whether it was Taiseer Aljassam tripping over his own two feet to allow Yury Gazinsky to open the scoring, or the collective defensive failure that permitted Denis Cheryshev to add an emphatic second, or the misplaced belief in their ability to play out from back despite all evidence to the contrary, this was an inept Saudi performance unsuited to the grand stage and deserving of the five-goal defeat.
Vladimir Putin, the Russian premier, spoke of his country as “open, hospitable and friendly” during the pre-match ceremony to some audible scoffs in the press box, but this theory never had to be tested. So poor and compliant were the Saudis, they played the part of perfect party guests.