Leeds United boss Marcelo Bielsa had turned down the opportunity to manage Saudi Arabia.
Before Leeds confirmed the appointment of Marcelo Bielsa, a good decision from the Argentine quickly became apparent.
Saudi Arabia’s World Cup horror show in the opening game highlighted that he had a lucky escape turning their job down.
Bielsa’s former assistant Jan Van Winckel works for the Saudi FA and he hoped to utilise the manager’s experience after his spells managing Argentina and Chile at previous tournaments.
Saudi Arabia were thrashed in the opening game by hosts Russia, losing 5-0.
That may have been their easiest game, with matches against Luis Suarez’s Uruguay and Mohamed Salah’s Egypt up next.
The game demonstrated that Bielsa would have had his work truly cut out if he took the job.
Managing Leeds is a big gamble in itself, but Bielsa will hope he has more than three difficult games in which to make an impression.
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