The Saudi Arabian national squad went through an unforgettable ordeal after its team plane suffered a technical failure while traveling from Moscow to Rostov-on-Don for its World Cup match against Uruguay on Wednesday.
Based on footage from inside the plane, fire appeared to be coming out of one of its engines. Fortunately, the Airbus A319-100 landed safely with both engines working.
A statement from the Saudi Arabian Football Federation says that all the national team players are safe and are heading to their residence safely. The federation said one of the plane's engines suffered a technical failure while it was about to land at the Rostov-on-Don airport.
Footage obtained by Middle Eastern news outlets showed that the wing of the airplane was engulfed in fire. However, Russia's Rossiya Airlines denies social media reports that the engine caught fire while it was about to land.
Reason Behind Engine Failure Discovered
It was earlier said that the cause of the engine trouble was a bird strike, but Russia's civil aviation authority Rosaviatsia later revealed that the incident stemmed from the abnormal operation of one of the plane's engines. The abnormal operation resulted in flames shooting from the exhaust.
Rosaviatsia also promised to conduct an extensive probe on the matter. The agency plans to invite the designer and manufacturer of the engine in its investigation.
The incident happened after the Saudi Arabians suffered a humiliating 5-0 defeat at the hands of host Russia in their opening clash. Denis Cheryshev scored twice, Yury Gazinsky scored in the 12th minute, Artem Dzyuba added one in the 71st minute, and Aleksandr Golovin scored into stoppage time for the Russians.
Saudi Arabia To Face Uruguay
Saudi Arabia will have a tough task on Wednesday when it takes on two-time World Cup champion Uruguay, a 1-0 winner over Egypt in its opening match in Group A.
Uruguay will try to make it to the knockout round for the third straight edition of the World Cup with a win over Saudi Arabia. Uruguay is second in Group A with three points behind Russia, which has six points on two wins. Saudi Arabia and Egypt have yet to tally a point in the tournament.
Saudi Arabia will try to end their victory drought dating back to 1994. On that year, the Saudi Arabians defeated Belgium behind a goal by Saeed Al-Owairan. Uruguay star player Luis Suarez will be one tough matchup for the Saudi Arabians. Since joining the team in 2007, Suarez became the team's leading scorer, with 51 international goals for Uruguay.
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