St James’ Park hosted its second of two Saudi Arabia friendly matches on Tuesday night as Roberto Mancini’s side took on South Korea.
Saudi Arabia lost 3-1 to Costa Rica at St James’ Park on Friday evening before facing Korea at Newcastle United’s home stadium.
The matches come almost two years after Newcastle United were taken over by the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund.
Two notable players were named in the South Korea starting line-up on Tuesday evening with Tottenham Hotspur forward Son Heung Min and Bayern Munich summer signing Kim Min Jae both in action.
While the arrangement of the friendlies has been met with some backlash and controversy, Newcastle are set to benefit from the matches financially and commercially.
Speaking last month, Magpies head coach Eddie Howe said about the friendly matches: “All I’d say on that is I think Newcastle is an incredible venue to play not just football, but we’ve hand bands, rugby, lots of different people, sports at the stadium and it is a truly iconic place to play.”
When asked if the matches will provide a boost for United in terms of Financial Fair Play, Howe responded: “Yeah, possibly. I don’t know any of the details behind how we’ve got to this point in the game taking place.
“So whether it’s a financial decision, possibly that might have come into it.”
But Howe wouldn’t discuss any potential concerns over the decision to play the matches at St James’ Park as he added: “To be honest, I haven’t really given it too much thought because of how busy my schedule has been.
“As I said, I found out like you guys did in the media, and I very quickly moved on.”
Saudi Arabia shocked the football world last winter by beating eventual World Cup winners Argentina in their opening game of the tournament in Qatar. Defeats to Poland and Mexico in the other two group stage matches saw Saudi Arabia finish bottom of the group.
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