Craig Goodwin and Al Wehda were flying.
March 11’s 2-1 affirming victory at fallen giants Al Ittihad moved the Mecca side into the top three, making hopes real of a debut AFC Champions League campaign. Their lithe Australia left winger failed to get on the score sheet at a desolate King Abdullah Sports City, but four goals and five assists in 22 Saudi Professional League run-outs stand testament to a fine debut campaign.
This dream, however, was put on indefinite pause three days later when the Ministry of Sports suspended all activity as the ravages of coronavirus took hold in the Kingdom.
Fast forward to now and a return to action is still seven weeks away after last Friday’s announcement by the Saudi Arabian Football Federation. Training, however, can recommence from June 21.
Virus-related fatalities in the Kingdom reached 932 on Saturday, with 123,308 cases reported since March 2’s first.
Goodwin has been, approximately, 11,000 kilometres away since late April after permission was granted for the competition’s foreign stars to return home. A strong sense of perspective about an exceptional situation that “is bigger than just us and bigger than just football” appears when engaged with him.
“As a team, we reacted well,” said the 28-year-old, bought for a bargain $450,000 from hometown outfit Adelaide United last July. “We’d been doing really well in the season, so everyone was a bit disappointed we had to stop and couldn’t continue our momentum.
“We’ve got quite a good group, so we’ve stuck together and everyone messages in the group WhatsApp regularly. Everyone is on board with what we have to do and, obviously, the situation is bigger than just us and bigger than just football.
“Everyone is doing their bit and then we have to go find our own ways to stay busy.”
Disruption to everyday life has impacted billions across the globe since January 23’s “unprecedented” – as described by the World Health Organisation – lockdown in Hubei, China signalled the escalating situation’s severity.
It would be March when Goodwin’s present, and past, employers felt the pandemic’s cruel influence. Postponements to the SPL and A-League campaigns sparked unforeseeable economic repercussions.
Craig Goodwin (r) in action against Al Ahli Jeddah (EPA).
An across-the-board wage cut of 50 per cent was applied to the Saudi top flight from April.
Sterner action in Adelaide caused all football operations – including coaches, players and staff – to be stood down with immediate effect on March 31, according to The Advertiser. The league’s highest earners then agreed to sacrifice more than 80 per cent of their salaries from June-August, propping up wages for the lowest.
Restart plans for the competition have been further complicated by rights holder Fox Sports’ demand that they will only televise the final 2019/20 matches if a dramatic reduction in broadcast rights fees for the next three years is agreed.
“Obviously, I keep in touch with a few of them quite regularly because I’ve got a few good friends there,” says Goodwin, who won the 2015/16 A-League Championship at Adelaide. “It is not ideal what is happening at Adelaide, with the stoppage of the league and the TV rights and that sort of thing – it is a big issue.
“Like many, many countries, the money from the TV rights is the majority of income for the players for their wages. There are a lot of clubs in the same boat in Australia, and a lot of teams around the world.
“These are unprecedented times with what is going on in the world – and the sporting world, as well. We’ll have to wait and see.
“As a collective, we have to do what is best for the survival of the clubs in Australia and around the world.
“We have to work together and do what is best, as a whole for the sport.”
A compound in Jeddah was home for Goodwin, fiancee Katelyn and two cats, prior to the spring’s tumultuous events.
What did life on lockdown look like for a professional footballer on the Red Sea’s coast?
He says: “Me and Katelyn watch a lot of Netflix.
“We finished watching Ozark and also trained, at least twice a day.
“We’ve got two cats as well, Crombie and Fitch, so they keep us a bit busy.
“Everyone had their own way to stay fit. All the foreigners were in the same compound that I’m in, but we trained individually.
“We could train in the basement of the car park, running up and down. There was a little bit with the ball, maybe some dribbling things.
“Some of the boys who are local to Jeddah might have had more space to do other things. But for most of the boys in the compound, we couldn’t really do too much in regards to the ball.”
This is not the first foreign foray of a career that began at Adelaide Raiders of National Premier Leagues South Australia, more than a decade ago.
A free transfer to the Eredivisie’s Sparta Rotterdam followed four days after United’s silverware joy. This union, however, would prematurely end by mutual consent in May 2018 after Goodwin struggled for regular starts and his club were, eventually, relegated.
His goal and two assists in a decisive, final-day 3-1 win against Go Ahead Eagles had helped prevent demotion in the prior season.
Craig Goodwin reacts to a missed chance against Nepal in October.
A wizened player has been witnessed in the Kingdom and its burgeoning domestic league.
Bafetimbi Gomis, Abderrazak Hamdallah, compatriot Brad Jones, Giuliano and Omar Al Somah are some of the grandest names. But a minuscule former Italy maestro nicknamed Formica Atomica (Atomic Ant) has left the biggest impression on Goodwin.
“It is a tough one, because they are some good players,” he says when asked to identify the SPL’s finest. “But I would go for [Sebastian] Giovinco at Al Hilal.
“In terms of overall quality, every time he touches the ball there are minimal mistakes. He is a dangerous player and it is hard to stop him from making things happen.
“He is the best player I’ve seen. But there are so many good teams and good foreigners here.
“From everything I’d heard from Australians who’d played here, they said it was very strong league. You have seven foreigners, so that improves the strength of the squads when recruiting top players from around the world.
“It has surprised me a bit, but I did expect it [SPL] to be at a good level. It is very strong, for sure it is one of the strongest in Asia – if not the strongest.
“There are a lot of good players.”
Goodwin is a poster boy for Wehda’s progress. Acuity in the transfer market, rare in a spendthrift division, catalysed a slew of bargain summer deals.
The 2015/16 A-League champion is part of the supply chain for 12-goal forward Youssoufou Niakate, a €2 million pick-up from Union Saint Gilloise last July. Luisinho arrived for a similar fee this January from Al Faisaly, since contributing five goals and three assists in 10 appearances.
Ex-Spain Under-21 and Barcelona centre-back Alberto Botia has, also, added authority since August’s free transfer from Al Hilal. Such sharp business has helped fill the void left by the sale of emerging Saudi Arabia midfielder Abdulellah Al Malki to Ittihad.
September’s hire of Jose Daniel Carreno – winner of the 2013/14 SPL crown at Al Nassr – then helped knit a talented squad together once former Croatia defender Mario Cvitanovic’s unconvincing two-month stint was terminated.
“He’s fantastic,” Goodwin says of his Uruguayan boss. “From where we were at the start, to where we are now, we’ve definitely developed a personality in our play and a real sense of style and direction.
“There is a real belief in the team and the club about what he is doing.
“He gets his message across really clearly. In terms of him as a person, he’s a very good man manager.
“He’s a big joker and one of the funniest in the team. Whenever he does a team talk, he always throws in a real sarcastic joke and had this pause, not everyone knows what is going on, then he’ll start laughing or making fun of another player.
“We’ll, also, sometimes be doing a shooting drill and he’ll join in for one shot and score, then just run away and won’t come back.”
Craig Goodwin (r) in a leg race with Al Nassr’s excellent Sultan Al Ghanam (EPA).
An Australian enclave has taken root in Saudi Arabia.
Former Liverpool and Feyenoord goalkeeper Jones became a title winner at Nassr in 2018/19’s triumphant debut season. There were contrasting emotions for fellow shot stopper Jack Duncan and ex-Middlesbrough team-mate Rhys Williams who were relegated at Al Qadsiah.
Goodwin’s arrival made it four.
“I don’t know him too much,” he says of Jones. “I’ve not been on any national team camps with him.
“But I did speak to him once I’d arrived and I saw him at the season launch. I spoke to him a lot and he had a lot of good insight.
“I spoke to Rhys Williams and Jack Duncan, who live in Dammam. They are on the other side of the country.
“All of them had good insight for what it is like and what it is like culturally, about the differences from here and Australia and here and Europe.”
Goodwin’s adventure in the Middle East has pushed him up the Socceroos’ pecking order. He was an unused substitute six times throughout, lengthy, World Cup 2018 qualifying, while also missing out on Asian Cup 2019.
Graham Arnold, however, named him in all three squads at the start of 2019/20.
This renewed faith has given Goodwin motivation to maintain his “sanity” and push for further honours once play resumes.
“For the past few years while I was in Holland, I was involved a lot in the squads,” says the five-cap attacker. “Then when I went back to Adelaide and was involved in a couple of squads, but missed out on the Asian Cup.
“Since coming here, I’ve been involved in every camp. That’s been positive.
“I’ve played a couple more games, as well.
“The move has been good for my international status. Hopefully, I can get some more games and show what I can do to get a more-regular spot.
“Now, it is about working hard and keeping the focus, keeping my sanity until we get back into actual training. I’ll keep working hard and hopefully we can get back to the football and the way we live normally, then go from there.”
