JEDDAH: Salman Mohammed Al-Faraj is a Saudi professional football player. Al-Faraj plays as a midfielder for Al-Hilal club and Saudi Arabia’s national football squad. Al-Faraj was born on Aug. 1, 1989, in Madinah. According to Saudi online newspaper “Al-Mowaten,” Al-Faraj has been praised for his performance during the 2018 World Cup as he racked up the highest number of passes in the Saudi national team. Al-Faraj played his first match for the Saudi national team against Congo in Prince Abdullah bin Jalawi Stadium in Al-Ahsa on Oct. 14, 2012. The Saudi team won the match 3-2. The midfielder was selected for Saudi Arabia’s preliminary squad for the World Cup this year. Unfortunately, the Saudis lost the World Cup’s opening match against Russia, which won the match 5-0. However, the performance of the national squad improved a lot during its match against Uruguay, which is considered one of the best teams in the world. Uruguay won the match 1-0 but Saudi team’s performance was praised. On Monday, Saudi Arabia won a match against Egypt 2-1. Egyptian goalkeeper Essam El Hadary saved a penalty after becoming the oldest player ever to appear at the World Cup on Monday but it was not enough to prevent the Egyptian side sliding to a defeat. The 45-year-old goalkeeper dived to his right to make a spectacular stop in the 39th minute from Fahad Al- Muwallad’s spot-kick at the Volgograd Arena. But El-Hadary’s joy was tempered after Saudi Arabia fought back from Mohamed Salah’s superb opening goal to claim a consolation win. Both Saudi goals came deep into stoppage time in both halves.