Saudi Arabia should have been the support act in last week’s World Cup Group C opener against Argentina.   

The South Americans came into the World Cup unbeaten in 36 matches and ranked as the third-best national side in the world according to FIFA, while of the teams who made it to Qatar only Ghana sat lower in those rankings than Saudi Arabia (#51).  

That game, of course, didn’t play out as expected. Despite Lionel Messi opening the scoring early with a penalty, and Argentina having three goals disallowed for offside, the rank outsiders turned the contest on its head in the second half to secure what turned out to be a historic 2-1 victory.  

As the inevitable Argentine onslaught ensued throughout the second half, one of those tasked with keeping Lionel Messi and Co. at bay was Saudi central defender Hassan Altambakti.  

Much like the rest of his teammates, the 23-year-old has spent all of his career playing in the Saudi Pro League and is relatively unknown to most football fans outside his native country.  

Yet, one exception to this is former Everton winger and Under-18s Head Coach Kevin Sheedy.   

After leaving his role within the Toffees’ academy in 2017, the ex-Republic of Ireland international spent nine months coaching in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia’s capital city.  

It was there where he met and coached Altambakti as a teenager within Al-Shabab’s academy team.  

Sheedy watched with glee as the 23-year-old joined his teammates in jubilant celebrations at the final whistle of that historic win in Lusail and reflected on just how far the defender had come, and on the role he played in helping him get there.   

“I was working at a club called Al Shabab which is in Riyadh, coaching the Under-23s and one of the young lads, who was about 17 or 18 at the time, was Hassan. He was big, strong and quick, but a bit raw," said Sheedy.

“I’d noticed that he was often late for or miss training, so I had said to him ‘Hassan, come on you’re a good player, you need to be in all the time’.   

“He responded saying ‘Coach, I live right on the outskirts of Riyadh’.   

“There was no public transport coming from where Hassan lived, meaning he was heavily reliant on lifts from others.”  

Sheedy could see the potential in Altambakti from the start and was eager not to see his talent go to waste.  

“If he didn’t get a lift, he simply couldn’t get in and I thought he was too good of a talent to be wasted.”  

The Blues icon went about trying to find a swift solution to help Altambakti.   

“I noticed in the car park of the training ground, there were a number of cars that were always there when I got in, and always there when I left," he explains.

“So, I went to see the club secretary and asked was it possible to give Hassen one of the cars so he can get to and from training.”  

The idea of handing an Under-23s player, with a less than perfect attendance record, a car for nothing did not particularly appeal to the club’s hierarchy.   

“The secretary wasn’t having it,” said Sheedy.   

“He said, ‘No chance, you can’t do that’. But I kept knocking on his door and knocking on his door until eventually he got completely fed up with me.”    

Thanks to his unwillingness to give up on trying to secure a means of regular transport for Altambakti, Sheedy’s perseverance eventually paid off.   

“One day, I once again knocked on the door with the same request, and this time, he gave me the keys to one of the cars," he said.   

“I passed them on to Hassan and then, just like that, he was able to get himself to and from training consistently.”    

Access to a car wasn’t just a game-changer for Altambakti, but it also proved hugely beneficial to several other members of the squad too.   

“He used to pick all the lads up. There was one time he came into the training ground and there were eight lads in his car.   

“But that was Hassan, he was a bit of a character, and he was a good lad.”  

Since leaving the club and returning home, Sheedy has kept tabs on Altambakti’s progress.   

Following their success over Argentina, Saudi Arabia lost their next two Group C matches against Poland and Mexico meaning they failed to qualify for the knockout stages of the competition.   

Yet their win over Argentina means this group will be immortalised for producing the nation’s best-ever result on the world stage.   

Although he’s perhaps too modest to admit it, it’s more than possible Altambakti may not have been part of that select group had it not been for the intervention from Everton’s trophy-laden winger.   

“I look back now, obviously he progressed into Al-Shabab's first team, got into Saudi’s national team, and played in that team that beat Argentina," said Sheedy.

"Sometimes you can help people on the pitch, sometimes you can help them off it, and the fact he was able to get to training on a regular basis, well you could see the improvement in him.   

“He was getting fitter by training regularly, his passing and everything improved in training, and he took it on into the games.   

“By the time I’d left, he had made it into the First-Team squad.  

“He was always going to be a good player and I’ve always kept tabs on the players I’ve coached so I am really pleased to see him playing in the World Cup.  

“I read in the paper that all the players who played in that Argentina game were going to receive a Rolls-Royce Phantom or something like that,” said Sheedy.   

“So quite ironically, he’s gone from one extreme to the other, which I thought was quite good.”  

Though Sheedy was quick to mirthfully refute the idea that now, then, might be a good time for Altambakti to return the favour for the car gifted to him all those years ago!

“I’d probably not be able to afford to run a Rolls-Royce given the price of petrol now," he laughs.

Coaching has been a big part of Sheedy’s post-playing career, and thanks to his time working at Everton and in Saudi Arabia, the 63-year-old can boast a unique record of having coached four players from four different countries who have travelled to Qatar for this winter’s tournament.   

On top of Altambakti, he’s also worked with England’s Eric Dier, USA’s Anthony Robinson and Wales’ Adam Davies.   

That’s an achievement the former Everton man is rightfully proud of and one that very few coaches, if any, can match.