JEDDAH, 6 July 2007 — The Saudi national football team have come a long way since winning their first of three AFC Asian Cup titles the first time they participated in the continental championship in 1984. The Saudi growth in world football was reflected by the team’s qualification in the World Cup in 1994, 1998, 2002 and 2006.
The battle-tested Kingdom team this year mark their seventh
participation in the Asian Cup being hosted by four Asean countries namely Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia and Indonesia.
The national team successfully defended the Asian crown in 1988. Defending champions Saudi Arabia could not beat Japan in 1992 and settled for second place. However, in 1996 the Kingdom claimed their third championship. They managed to reach the final again in 2000 but lost to host Lebanon 1-0.
The competition has since improved as national teams go global by sending their players in tough European leagues to gain exposure and experience.
No matter, the new-look Saudi team remain optimistic and determined to erase the disappointment in 2004 when they failed to even reach the quarterfinals by one point from three games in the group stage of the competition.
The new Brazilian coach Hélio do Anjos, 49 years old, has declared the Saudi national team are ready to compete for the seventh time in the Asian Cup.
The coach is keeping the faith in the young team where no member, excepting 2004 AFC Champions League MVP Redha Tukkar who is in his 30s, is older than 27 years old and three are under 23 namely Ahmed Darweesh, Majid Al-Amri and Walid Abdullah. There is also the ever reliable Mohammad Al-Shalhoub, who was nominated as 2006 AFC Player of the Year.
“I was choked when I heard from Anjos that his defense line are all under 23, it is excellent to have a defense line with young and excited youth,” Singapore football national team coach Radojko Avramovi told the press after their friendly game with Saudi.
Besides that he added, thanks to their wealth of experience in the Asian Cup, “Saudi will be a tough competitor for Korea, Iran and Japan and is strong bets for the semifinals and the cup.”
Avramovi was impressed by striker Abdulrahman Al-Qahtani with his performance and predicted he would be the most outstanding player in the event.
Anjos took over from Marcos Paqueta who was dismissed three months before the Asian Cup. Prince Sultan ibn Fahd, president of the Saudi Youth Welfare, announced Paqueta’s dismissal when the team failed to win the 18th GCC Football Cup in UAE and placed fourth.
The team have been through ups and downs, specially when Al-Shalhoub and Yasser Al-Qahtani suffered injuries. Team captain Omar Al-Ghamdi was the latest injury blow for the Saudi squad. According to the national team doctor Jamal Khalifah, Al-Ghamdi would take at least three weeks to be fit. This raised hackles among fans, especially Ittihad die-hards, who were surprised Mohammed Nur was not included on the team, and believe Nur could contribute to the success of the national team in this major event.
To prepare for the event, the team were in training camp for two weeks in Singapore where they outplayed UAE 2-0 in international friendly on second half goals by Saad Al-Harthi and Malik Muaz. The Saudis then participated in the Singapore 4 Nations Tournament that also featured Oman and North Korea. The Saudis beat Singapore 2-1 on June 27. Al-Shalhoub and Yasser were still sidelined for this event giving chance for others to shine. Abdulrahman Al-Qahtani and Taiseer Al-Jassam obliged to score the Kingdom’s two goals. After that match coach Anjos said, “I’m happy with the players because they have started to adapt to my philosophy, especially in the second half when we were playing with one player less,” he told PA Sport.
Against Oman on July 1 Al-Shalhoub was allowed by the doctor to play in the second half and scored their first goal in the 55 minute. But Fawzi Bashir scored the equalizer for Oman and the regulation period ended 1-1. Oman beat Saudi Arabia in the penalty shootout 3-1. Under tournament rules, the match winner gets the game 3 points and loser no point, winner in penalty kicks gets 2 points and loser 1 point. Saudi thus got 4 points equal to Oman, whose other win via the shootout was against North Korea 2-2 (4-2). Saudi Arabia won the tournament because of their win in regulation over Singapore.
Meanwhile, Saudi Arabia drew their friendly against North Korea 1-1 on Wednesday. Yasser played for 20 minutes in the second half. Malik Mouath scored the Saudis’ goal in the 62nd minute. North Korean equalized 10 minutes later at the Jurong East Stadium in Singapore.
According to Arab News online poll on who will top Group D Saudi Arabia won the highest number of votes at 154. South Korea followed at 82 votes, Bahrain 12 votes, and Indonesia 8 votes.
The team traveled on Wednesday night to Jakarta, where they play their first match on July 11 against South Korea at Jaka Baring Stadium in Palembang, Indonesia. Yasser has been designated the interim team captain while Al-Ghamdi recovers from injury. The Green Falcons next face Indonesia on July 14 and Bahrain on July 18.
