Saudi Arabia say they will put to one side the pomp and pageantry that will accompany their World Cup opener against Russia and focus simply of achieving a positive result.
The Gulf side, competing at a global finals for the first time in 12 years, will on Thursday become the first Asian country to open the tournament when they take on the hosts at Moscow’s Luzhniki Stadium.
The match, the first in a Group A also containing Uruguay and Egypt, pits against one another the event’s lowest-ranked teams, with Saudi 67th in the current Fifa standings and Russia 70th.
Saudi's preparations appear to have gone better than their opponents, though, with the team improving recently, particularly in friendlies against Italy and world champions Germany, despite being defeated in both. Russia, meanwhile, come into the tournament winless in their past seven matches.
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Speaking before their training session in Saint Petersburg on Monday evening, Saudi midfielder Abdullah Otayf told a press conference: "Three days remain to the game, and we will continue our preparations today and tomorrow, and we will be fully ready, God willing, on the day of the match.
"The Russian national team is not easy. It's been chosen to host the tournament, so our focus will be on just what happens inside the pitch. The team who make the least mistakes and has high concentration will win."
Saudi’s preparations have been extensive, encompassing five training camps with manager Juan Antonio Pizzi, stretching back to January.
"We are happy to be among the best teams in the world, and I hope that the long period we have spent together in the camps will give us the positive result we expected," attacking midfielder Yahya Al Shehri said.
"We have seen the Russian team in their friendly matches, but it is not a measure for us, especially since appearances in official matches are quite different from friendlies. We look forward to performing at a high level and take three points."
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Scoreline
Australia 2-1 Thailand
Australia: Juric 69', Leckie 86'
Thailand: Pokklaw 82'
Moon Music
Artist: Coldplay
Label: Parlophone/Atlantic
Number of tracks: 10
Rating: 3/5
Selected fixtures
All times UAE
Wednesday
Poland v Portugal 10.45pm
Russia v Sweden 10.45pm
Friday
Belgium v Switzerland 10.45pm
Croatia v England 10.45pm
Saturday
Netherlands v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Denmark 10.45pm
Sunday
Poland v Italy 10.45pm
Monday
Spain v England 10.45pm
Tuesday
France v Germany 10.45pm
Rep of Ireland v Wales 10.45pm
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It Was Just an Accident
Director: Jafar Panahi
Stars: Vahid Mobasseri, Mariam Afshari, Ebrahim Azizi, Hadis Pakbaten, Majid Panahi, Mohamad Ali Elyasmehr
Rating: 4/5
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Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
