SINGAPORE, 28 June 2007 — Saudi Arabia’s preparations for next month’s Asian Cup continued smoothly yesterday when the three-times champions swept aside Singapore 2-1 in a warm-up friendly despite playing almost half the match with 10 men.
The visitors took the lead at the National Stadium through Abdulrahman Al-Qahtani in the 26th minute and doubled it eight minutes later through Taiseer Al-Jassam.
Al-Jassam received his marching orders five minutes into the second half for a second bookable offense but still the Saudis were too strong, holding firm until a face-saving goal from the hosts in the final minute of play. “I’m happy with this victory,” said the Saudi Arabia’s Brazilian coach Helio Anjos. “We played with one man less in the second half and we were against a strong team that played quickly.
“Because we are preparing for the Asian Cup the result will give us more confidence in ourselves and in our play,” he told the Asian Football Confederation’s website. Saudi Arabia beat United Arab Emirates 2-0 at the weekend also on Singapore.
