JEDDAH, 1 August 2007 — The deputy president of the Saudi Youth Welfare Presidency, Prince Nawaf ibn Faisal, thanked Custodian of the Two Holy Hosques King Abdullah and the Crown Prince Sultan on behalf of the Saudi football delegation to the Asian Cup.
He thanked them for the great support to the Saudi team during the Asian Cup competition and for developing Saudi sports. In a press statement issued before the Saudi delegation left Jakarta on Monday, Prince Nawaf said, “This great achievement came after the continuous support of Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, the president of the Youth Welfare presidency, and with the support of the Saudi fans.”
He added, “We managed to introduce a new team that we called the dream team. This team managed to achieve a lot. As far as the final match against Iraq, which we lost 1-0, I would like to point out a few things. The group of players included in the national team is new and to reach a final with new players is a great achievement. As to the running of the competition, we do not blame the organizers because the draw put us in this situation. What we criticize is that they did not put the departure and arrival of teams into consideration. We traveled three times in very exhausting flights that totaled 9 hours. We faced great difficulties when we arrived in Vietnam. Despite the fact that the government provided the airplane for the Saudi team it could not land in Vietnam airports. We had to find an airplane with landing rights in Vietnam. This caused a 4 hours delay. I am not criticizing the country’s airport but the organizers of the competition should have considered that. Our players did not train for a full day because they were resting after a long flight.”
He said the Saudi team was not performing well in the final match and virtually different from the one that played the first five matches. He said the team was exhausted because of the traveling. “The Saudi team did all they could to reach the final match with all the attendant problems mentioned above.”
Prince Nawaf said the Iraqi win is considered a Saudi win. “Since we reached the final together, there is no losing team. Everyone that reaches the final is a winner,” he said. He added that the referee of the final match did not take swift action against the Iraqi players who were playing violently. He mentioned that there was a situation where a Saudi player was tackled inside the penalty box and a penalty kick was not awarded. “I do not blame the referee but the conditions of the match and the exhaustion of our players contributed to the loss of the match.”
He said the players gave it their best shot despite the inadequate training period. He said the defense and midfield lines improved as Saudi Arabia played more matches including against Japan in the semifinal. The Saudi team, he said, is young and needs all the support. Prince Nawaf asked each player a report on the final match and why Saudi Arabia lost.
Prince Nawaf said Saudi Arabia would participate in important competitions in the future like the Arab tournament. He said, “There are studies to establish new academies for football. We will soon finalize it and we will visit countries where there are football academies in Europe and Brazil to benefit from their experience.”
