JEDDAH, 3 September 2006 — Japan and Saudi Arabia clash in a head-to-head between favorites today at Prince Abdullah Al-Faisal Stadium here in the final match of the first round in Group A of the AFC Asian Cup qualifiers.
The were no surprises so far in the group as both teams won their first two matches against Yemen and India.
Saudi Arabia go into the match without three of their star players. Hamad Al-Montashri and Yasser Al-Qahtani are out due to injuries while Mohammad Nur was not called back for national team duty.
Saudi national team coach Brazilian Marcos Paqueta said, “This match will be a real measure for our team’s technical performance since this is our first big match after the World Cup.”
Japan, on the other hand, is handicapped by the absence of 9 of their starting players, Japanese coach Olsin told sister sports publication Al-Riyadiah. “ We reached Jeddah without nine of our star players who are playing outside of Japan.”
The Japanese coach said club commitments kept the nine from joining the Saudi trip.
As a result, Japan are left to rely on Alex and Tulio, both originally from Brazil with Japanese citizenship, to advance their cause.
Japan showed their hosts they meant business when the coach took his team straight to the field for training on Friday morning after a 14-hour flight from Tokyo.
Today’s match will be the eighth meeting between the sides. Japan hold the edge winning four matches in their head-to-head with Saudi Arabia who in turn won only once in the 1990 Asian Games in China.
Qahtani’s injury left open a spot for Al-Hilal striker Ahmad Suwaleh but it is unlikely he will be part of Paqueta’s starting team. He was on the substitutes’ bench at yesterday’s training. Paqueta will probably opt for the striking duo of Essa Al-Muhani and Saleh Basher.
