ROSTOV-ON-DON, June 19 (Xinhua) -- The Saudi Arabia football team arrived in the city of Rostov-On-Don for their make-or-break game against Uruguay on Wednesday night after a frightening flight from their training ground in St Peterburg late on Monday night.
The Saudi plane landed safely in Rostov-on-Don after an incident in which their plane caught fire during the flight, with a video showing flames coming from beneath one of the wings.
The airline Rossiya said the first cause of the problem had been a bird-strike on one of the engines, but that both had been in perfect working order on landing at Rostov-On-Don.
On landing the Saudis posted photos of the team getting off the plane and confirmed "all the Saudi national team players are safe, after a technical failure in one of the airplane engines that has just landed in Rostov-on-Don airport, and now they're heading to their residence safely".
Although the plane landed safely, it is not the perfect way to start preparations for a game the Saudi Arabians have to win on Wednesday in order to avoid an early exit from the competition following their 5-0 defeat to Russia in the opening match of the World Cup.
Uruguay meanwhile defeated Egypt 1-0 with a late goal and a victory would almost certainly book their place in the last 16.
