JEDDAH, 15 March 2006 — Iraq and Saudi Arabia face each other today in an international soccer friendly match at the Prince Abdulla Al-Faisal stadium here.
“We came here in a friendly match against one of our beloved countries,” said Akram Salman, Iraqi national football team coach on the eve of the match which has again brought into focus the close cooperation between the soccer federations of the two countries. This match is part of the tuneup games of the Saudis in the run-up to the World Cup 2006 in Germany next summer.
Salman hopes this match will reflect the performance of both teams and that all the fans will enjoy the action.
The political situation in Iraq and the difficulties in preparing and gathering their team members did not stop the Iraqis from accepting the invitation. Though it was difficult to gather all professional players from their clubs they managed to arrive with a 16-man team excluding the trio of Younis Mahmoud who plays in Qatar, Ghawwar Mohammed who plays in Lebanon, and Mahdi Kareem who plays in Cyprus.
“Their clubs did not allow them to attend. However, this will give youth players a chance to play alongside the 10 national team players,” he said. Olympian Wisam Kathem, Jasim Hajji and Khalid Mosheer are among the youth players. Salman praised the Saudi league are “one of the best leagues in Asia. ” He also noted the full support being lavished by the government on the team gave Saudi players the opportunity to excel in the national and international arenas.
