SOCCER: Saudi Arabia's failure to create chances sealed fate, coach says

Saudi Arabia's inability to hold the ball and create attacking chances doomed the team in a goalless draw with Cape Verde at Houston Stadium on Friday in their final World Cup Group H match, coach Georgios Donis said.

• "We were very poor in creating actions. One cannot win a game this way," he said.

• He added that Saudi Arabia had problems putting pressure on Cape Verde's backline aside from a short period of time in the second half.

• "Our line of attack was not doing well. Our greatest problem today was creation and this was self evident."

• Donis praised his players, saying the World Cup journey was a good experience but he would need to reassess the performance down the road.

• "It was not what we wanted because when playing in such a match against a team more or less the same level of us our level was not good. This gives cause for concern," he said.

• "The journey was good and I would like to thank the players."

-Reporting by Michael Kahn, Editing by Toby Davis/Reuters