JEDDAH, 29 July 2007 — For the first time in the history of AFC Asian Cup, Iraq will play today in the final against the three-time Asian Cup winner Saudi Arabia for the region’s premier football crown in Jakarta, Indonesia. Against all odds, Iraq and Saudi Arabia have qualified to face each other in the final. In fact, many sport critics did not expect both teams to pass the semifinals and predicted other teams like Japan, South Korea, Australia and Uzbekistan to reach the final. Instead, Iraq — a country that is currently suffering from serious political problems — bulldozed all opponents to meet a high-scoring Saudi team that comprises new and inexperienced players.
Saudi football fans are praying for their national team to win, knowing that it would be a great injustice if the new team failed to do so. A majority of restaurants in Jeddah are currently fully booked with Saudi fans intending to watch the final.
Abdullah Al-Jarboa, national team administrator coordinator, told Arab News over the phone from Jakarta that since the beginning of June the team has been preparing for the tournament that included training in Turkey, Singapore and finally in Indonesia where the event is taking place.
Although the team only welcomed their new Brazilian coach in June, Helio dos Anjos has, according to Al-Jarboa, succeeded in creating a balanced atmosphere for players and done a great job in putting the team together. Announcement of the new team initially opened the door for lot of criticism for not including veteran Saudi players like Muhammad Nur, Muhammad Al-Shalhoub and other players. However, the new team has managed to silence sport critics after their first two matches in the competition. Critics then began praising the coach, who has been credited with creating a new and promising team.
“Coach Anjos is a respected figure and although he may not have been in charge of any big clubs or national teams before, he is having a great success now,” Saudi midfielder Tayseer Al-Jasim told reporters.
“The difference between Anjos and our previous coach Marcus Paqueta is that Paqueta relied on experienced and well-known players, while Anjos took a big risk by selecting young players for a big competition like the Asian Cup,” said Al-Jasim, who turned 23 on the day of his team’s semifinal victory against Japan.
“I was hoping to score more goals because it’s always great to score. My teammates helped me a lot to score my two goals and I am still not satisfied with my performance. I feel that I still have a lot to give,” he said.
“We have an advantage as young players because Anjos previously said that if we didn’t get the chance now, then we wouldn’t have any international experience at all,” added Al-Jasim.
Al-Jarboa said that the time given to the new coach has also been enough for him to get to know players and ascertain which position they can play best in. This has enabled players to perform well.
He added that 25-year-old midfielder Ahmed Al-Mousa is a rising star and despite being a first timer in the AFC, he has managed to show his talent. “But that doesn’t mean the rest have not played well. This year it has been clear that they have all excelled and given their best,” he said.
Many sport critics believe that the match is not going to be an easy one. Iraq is looking to gain the title for the first time in its history while Saudi Arabia is looking to come back to the Asian Cup as a four-time winner. The key winner for the Saudi team has been strikers Malek Muaz and Yasser Al-Qahtani.
The Saudi team started the competition with 1-1 draw against South Korea in their first Group-D matches. Saudi Arabia defeated Indonesia in the second match of the group, 2-1, through a header in injury time by Al-Harithi. Saudi Arabia then crushed Bahrain in the final match of the group, 4-0 and then qualified to the quarterfinals with 7 points from two wins and one draw.
The Saudi team then defeated the strong Uzbekistan team 2-1 with Al-Qahtani and Al-Mousa scoring goals. Saudi Arabia moved to the semifinals to face three times winner and two times defending champions Japan, which has never lost a match in the Asian Cup since 1996.
The Saudi team then silenced all its critics and defeated Japan 3-2 in a match that was described as the best in the 2007 Asian Cup. Muaz, who had not scored a goal in the tournament till that time, scored two spectacular goals to allow the Saudi team to qualify for the finals against Iraq.
Iraq played in Group-A and started with a 1-1 draw against Thailand. Iraq stunned all teams after defeating newcomers Australia 3-1 and then drew in the final against Oman 0-0. With five points, Iraq qualified as top of Group-A and beat Vietnam in the quarterfinals 2-0. Iraq faced South Korea in the semifinals and defeated South Korea 4-3 in penalty kicks after both teams drew 0-0 at full time.
