There's a tendency in the Middle East to give coaches a chance - one chance.

Coaches come and go in the crazy world of Middle Eastern football with bewildering regularity, and the case of Saudi Arabia in the past six months is no different.

Saudi Arabia left Korea/Japan 2002 a shattered, demoralised team.

They had incurred their worst ever result in international football when they were humiliated 8-0 by Germany.

A period of rebuilding was necessary as old players were phased out and new ones introduced with Germany 2006 on the horizon.

With qualifying for World Cups never being too much of a problem given the depth of talent and their opposition in Asia, the Saudis topped their group ahead of the much-fancied South Koreans.

The architect of much of the rebirth was Gabriel Calderon, who took over in November 2004.

Within 13 months, he had gone, dismissed after failing to convince the Saudi Arabia Football Federation that the team was heading in the right direction.

The former Argentina international had been credited with turning the team around after a poor performance at the 2004 Asian Cup in China, when, under Dutchman Gerard van der Lem, the Saudis failed to qualify for the knockout phase of the tournament for the first time.

The authorities stuck by Calderon following a disappointing Gulf Cup in early 2005 and were rewarded as the team went through the second phase of Asia's World Cup qualifying tournament undefeated.

But two defeats against Iraq and a loss at the hands of Iran in the West Asian Games hurt Calderon's chances of remaining in charge.

When questions began to be asked of the constant changes to his backroom staff, the federation acted.

It seemed wholly incongruous, though, that he should have been dismissed with just six months to go before the World Cup, even taking into account a blip in an otherwise impressive set of results.

Within days of his departure, Calderon was replaced with Marcos Paqueta, a Brazilian who was a known quantity in the Saudi game, on a two-year contract.

His achievements as a coach arguably merited him a break at a higher level, but it came around much quicker than he could have envisaged.

Paqueta had led Riyadh-based club Al Hilal to four trophies, and previously helped Brazil land the Under-20 and Under-17 world titles in 2003. He swiftly emphasised his sights are set higher than the expected first round exit.

"Arab players have quality and good technique but they lack greater involvement at international level," he told FIFA.com. "They need to make that change so that they value themselves a little, increase their self-esteem and see that they have a chance and can take on any team in the world on an equal basis.

"My job is to try to emphasise this. Arab football is on the rise. We have new players, such as Al Ittihad defender Hamad Al Montashari, who was voted the best player in Asia.

"This all leads me to believe that we can do better. As a matter of fact, I think it's great that everyone considers Saudi Arabia to be outsiders in the competition.

"That's how we can surprise people."

Paqueta's unenviable task will be helped with a squad of familiar faces - half will be drawn from his old club, Al Hilal, and the other half from the two-time Asian Champions League winners Al Ittihad.

On paper, it is a strong squad, at least in Middle Eastern terms, and contains a number of players with World Cup experience.

But he has not had many games to get his ideas across to his new charges and they too are still learning another set of methods - the price paid for chopping and changing coaches.

He is confident of meeting the expectations of his adopted country ahead of the first game with Tunisia in Munich on June 14.

"We have the general support of the clubs, the press, and, most importantly, of the Saudis themselves, who show their support on the streets," he added.

"The trust that they have in our work is very important. I'm quite sure that we are going to get past the group stage."

Twelve years ago, Argentinean Jorge Solari took Saudi Arabia into the second round, which remains the country's best showing at a World Cup finals.

An early exit from Germany and Marcos Paqueta will, despite signing a contract through until the end of 2007, almost inevitably join a 16-strong list of Saudi coaching casualties since.