The Saudis lost to Syria in their opening match of the
tournament in Qatar, and coach Jose Peseiro was fired shortly thereafter.
Like his Portuguese predecessor, Al-Johar is under pressure
to perform well in Qatar following Saudi Arabia's failure to qualify for last
year's World Cup and the loss of the Gulf Cup title to Kuwait.
Al-Johar said Wednesday the team will do their “best to
bring the Saudi team to its well known distinguished level.” “I promise to show
you a good match against Jordan,” Al-Johar said, adding that his team has
learned lessons from the 2-1 loss to Syria. “I don't have a magic wand to
change things suddenly, but I have big hopes for the Saudi national team.”
Al-Johar has coached the Saudi national team twice before, as well as working
with the team through 2010 World Cup qualifying. He said the sudden dismissal
of Peseiro has not affected the squad ahead of Thursday's match, which will
likely decide if the team advances to the quarterfinals of the continental
tournament.
“I am no stranger to them,” Al-Johar said of his players. “They
know me very well and we interact with each other well.” Al-Johar said he will
make changes to the lineup and shift tactics when Saudi Arabia meets Jordan,
which drew 1-1 with Japan in its opening match.
Jordan coach Adnan Hamed said morale in his squad is high
after the good performance against Japan.
“There's pressure to win, but there's also ambition to go on
to the next stage,” Hamed said. “I hope we will manage to turn this pressure
into a positive performance.” Hamed said injured captain Hatem Aqel and the
team's key defender Bashar Yaseen will miss Thursday's match, which Hamed said
was “decisive for both teams.” “Saudi Arabia is an important, respectable team,
capable of a strong comeback,” Hamed said.
In 2007, Saudi Arabia lost the Asian Cup final to Iraq.
The Saudi team last won the tournament in 1996 and was also
runner-up in 2000.
Of the Gulf states, Saudi Arabia was expected to have the
best run in the tournament in Qatar. The team has long had one of the most
potent attacks in the region, but it struggled to score goals on its way to
losing to Kuwait in the Gulf Cup final this year and has dropped in the rankings
from 48th in December 2008 to its current 81st.
The 107th-ranked Jordan has never done much on the
international stage. It participated in the continental tournament only once,
in 2004 in China when it nearly caused one of the biggest upsets in the history
of the competition by coming a penalty away from eliminating East Asian power
Japan from the quarterfinals.
There were few signs Jordan can match the 2004 performance
in Qatar.
But Japan again narrowly avoided a Jordan upset on Sunday
when defender Maya Yoshida scored an injury-time goal to earn a 1-1 draw in the
Group B opening match on Sunday.
