Saudi Arabia’s Calderon Being Thrown into a Cauldron

You are the manager of Saudi Arabia and you led your team through an undefeated qualifying run to the World Cup. What is your reward?

An unhealthy dose of scrutiny by your country’s football federation.

That is the position that manager Gabriel Calderon finds himself in with Saudi Football Federation head Prince Nawaf Bin Faisal breathing down his neck. Says the Prince of Calderon, “”We will assess him and his fitness to lead our team based on his preparation plans.”

With all due respect to his majesty, here’s a message to the Prince: Back off.

Try assessing the fact that he led your country to the World Cup. Try assessing that his team went undefeated in qualifying. Obviously the guy is doing something right. By merely suggesting that he does not have a good training plan in place, you are only undermining the team’s training efforts by placing doubt in his players’ minds.