He had led Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates to the World Cup finals in 1982 and 1990 respectively. Saudi Arabia also won the Asian Cup in 1998 under Parreira. But after the Saudis lost to Denmark 1-0 in their opening match, Parreira had to face reporters to rationalise the result. I think the boys were brave enough. They did their best.
Nobody likes to lose.
Their performance was okay. But after the Saudis went on to lose to the French, Parreira must have known what was coming. Before his sacking was announced, he told reporters on his way to meet Prince Faisal that he had not heard anything official about his fate. At least they should have let us continue until the end of the World Cup. Several members of the team were seen hugging him just before he left to receive news of his sacking.