JAKARTA, 28 July 2007 — Saudi Arabia coach Helio Cesar dos Anjos knows a thing or two about strikers and the Brazilian believes Yasser Al-Qahtani and Malek Muaz are as good as any he has seen.
The Saudi strikers have been in brilliant form during the Asian Cup, netting six goals between them to fire their side into tomorrow’s final against Iraq.
Al Qahtani, whose nickname is “The Sniper,” is joint leading scorer for the tournament with four goals, tied with Japan’s German-based striker Naohiro Takahara.
He converted a penalty to earn his team a 1-1 draw in their first pool game against South Korea and the skipper also found the back of the net in his team’s 2-1 win over co-hosts Indonesia.
The 24-year-old scored in his team’s 2-1 quarterfinal win over Uzbekistan and again in their 3-2 semifinal victory over Japan. Muaz, 23, scored twice against the Japanese, including a spectacular solo effort to split the teams when they were level at 2-2.
Both men play club football in Saudi Arabia but Anjos said they were good enough to play anywhere in the world.
“These are two players who would have no problems playing in any team in Japan or in Europe, and some of our other players too, and I hope this will happen in the future,” Anjos told a news conference, speaking through a translator.
Although Saudi Arabia have won the Asian Cup three times and are through to their sixth final, Anjos said the national team would be even better if more players went overseas. There has been speculation that either Al-Qahtani or Muaz might go to Europe. “The big advantage that Australia, Japan and South Korea have over Saudi Arabia is that we don’t have any players playing outside of their own country,” Anjos said.
Iraqi Team Mask Their Grief With Asian Cup
Iraq’s weary soccer team could be forgiven for hoping the fulltime whistle never blows when they play Saudi Arabia in tomorrow’s Asian Cup final.
Their fairytale ride into the final has captured the imagination of the sporting world and given Iraqis a rare sense of national pride, uniting a country ripped apart by sectarian violence.
Like the Ancient Greeks who used to stop their wars while the Olympics were on, there is at least hope the fighting and violence may be halted while the match is in progress.
For 90 minutes at least, there may be peace in Iraq, but it will only be a temporary relief. When the final whistle blows, life will return to normal. Guns will crackle again and more people are likely to die.
Three were killed in Baghdad by falling bullets after Iraq’s quarterfinal victory over Vietnam and another 50 were killed by suicide bombers as thousands of revellers spilled onto the streets to celebrate their semi-final win over South Korea.
The bombings were a painful reminder of the sectarian violence between majority Shiite Muslims and minority Sunni Arabs that has killed tens of thousands since the US-led invasion to topple Saddam Hussein in 2003.
The carnage did not escape the attention of the Iraqi team, who have overcome extraordinary odds to succeed where politicians have failed. The squad is made up of Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish players, molded together by a Brazilian coach, Jorvan Vieira.
“It was very sad, we changed Iraq’s history, and then these senseless killings happen,” Vieira told Reuters. “We work to bring happiness to the Iraqi people and stupid people do this to innocent civilians.
“If we lose, people get killed, and if we win, people still get killed.” None of the Iraqi players have been untouched by the war.
Everyone has a relative or a friend who has died in the conflict and for some, the pain is still fresh and competing at the Asian Cup has provided a temporary chance to delay their own grieving.
The Iraq team’s media officer Walled Tabra told Reuters at least three players had lost relatives in the past few months. Goalkeeper Noor Sari’s brother-in-law was killed just before the tournament began and midfielder Nashat Akram also lost some family members while Hawar Mulla Mohammad’s stepmother died two days before the match against Vietnam.
Mulla, who converted the first penalty in the shootout with South Korea, only learnt about her death two hours before the Vietnam match when he received a phone call from Iraq Prime Minister Nuri Al-Maliki.
“He rang him to offer his condolences. He was very sad but he played the match anyway,” Tabra said.
“This is normal for us. We are used to this now. Not just the players, but everyone in Iraq.
“Of course it is difficult but what can we do? We are just footballers, all we can do is just try and play football. If the fighting stops during the game, then we will all be happy about that.”
