Just some random thoughts on the match. Not bad at all for the Saudi team. A 1-0 defeat on the hands of Spain’s bench is not what we were exactly looking for, but the performance is far better than that we have seen against Ukraine. Keep in mind Spain’s bench includes the likes of Raul, Reyes, Joaquin, Fabregas, and Canizares. The Spaniards, already qualified to the second stage, prepared themselves for an easier match, and did not expect this resistance by Saudis. Unlucky for the Sons of Desert, the solid midfielder Khalid Aziz, one of the best Saudi players in the tournament, had to leave the pitch after he was injured early in the first half.

Once again, the Saudi defence failed to deal properly with set-pieces, and lack of coordination between central backs and the goalkeeper continued in this match, but the performance of the keeper has notably improved. I think that our counter attacks could have been more efficient if we had Malek Mo’ath instead of Sa’ad Al Harthi up front in the first half, because the former is much faster and more aggressive.

Luis Aragones wanted to take more control of the match, so he brought in David Villa, Xavi, and Fernando Torres, but that was not enough to give him the effect he was looking for as the Saudis have become more confidant and started to push forward. They had some good chances, but could not make a serious threat against an experienced and solid Spanish defence. No comment on the referee.

Arabic words in English: Ever wondered how much influence Arabic words have in the English language? Click on the words to see live examples of how the most popular words from Arabic are being used right now to describe pictures, books, Web sites and encyclopaedia entries. The bigger the word, the more popular it is in contemporary usage. (via sm)

NY Times: 4 diabetes drugs are seen raising hope… and profit.

Khalid Al Dakhil has a good analysis for King Abdullah’s recent speech in which he called people to renounce ideological classification. He says:

diversity has been seen as a threat to the unity of the society. Saudi culture failed to recognise that diversity could be a sign of pluralism; a source of intellectual and cultural richness rather than a threat, and as a sign of society’s political and cultural strength. Who, then, is responsible for promoting and establishing such a fear of diversity? It could not be the society as a whole, but those classes whose interests are perceived threatened by it.

Al Dakhil remarks reminds me with something a friend told me a few days ago: “our diversity only makes us stronger,” and I believe it really does. (via xa)

Business 2.0 released their “The 50 people who matter now” list. And King Abduallah ranked at 9, with Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Hugo Chavez, and Vladimir Putin. The magazine called them The New Oil Despots.

Some Indian blogger on Blogcritics.org describes Bahrain as The Whore of Arabia. Ouch!

Most of my friends know that I was not pleased at all with what have been going on in the Saudi blogosphere in the past few months. I made a decision not to write about that subject again, and I’m not changing my mind. What happened has left me in frustration, and I almost lost hope in the local blogosphere. However, I have recently come across three interesting Saudi blogs which made me convinced why I should keep some hope inside. These blogs are: Magic Kingdom, Icona, and Al-Mufakker. They are all written in Arabic, and they absolutely worth checking out if you can read that language. Every one of these guys deserves a separate post of praise and celebration, but I think it would be much better if you went there and discovered them yourselves. Enjoy.