Al-Deayea - feeling confident. (Allsport)
AL-DEAYEA OPTIMISTIC
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Saudi Arabia are expected to be the whipping boys of Group E but goalkeeper Mohammed Al-Deayea is predicting bigger things.
"It's a mistake to underestimate us," he said.
"We will surprise again."
Cameroon won the African Nations Cup without conceding a goal and they have impressed in the warm-up games, but there are question marks hanging over Germany and the Republic of Ireland because of injuries and player withdrawals.
The Saudis can draw encouragement from USA 94 when they surprised all of the experts by reaching the second round.
"Before that Cup, everybody was saying that we would lost out three matches," said Al-Deayea, who was on that team.
"But we defeated Belgium and Morocco, and qualified for the second round. Why can't we repeat that?"
He was also in the 1998 World Cup squad when Saudi Arabia lost to France and Denmark, and managed only a draw against South Africa.
"Things didn't work out then," he said.
"We failed on some issues, and we faced very strong teams."
The 30-year-old goalkeeper, renowned for his penalty-kick saves, believes coach Nasser Al-Johara has the team well-prepared.
"We firmly believe in him. He saw what we can do, and he took us to our best level."
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