DUBAI: Luigi Di Biagio, coach of the Saudi Arabia U-23 team national team, has expressed satisfaction with the result after a 2-0 Group D victory over Qatar secured qualification for the second round of the football competition at the 2026 Asian Games in  Nagoya 2026.

The Green Falcons — playing in the competition’s only three-team group — will face South Korea on Tuesday to determine first and second places in the group, while the Qatari team has been eliminated after suffering two losses.

The Italian coach said in the post-match press conference that this generation of Saudi youngsters were set to face strong and more experienced teams such as South Korea, and perhaps hosts Japan, and that this should provide valuable challenges for the players, many of whom are under 20 years old.

In response to a question from Asharq Al-Awsat about the team’s ambitions in this tournament, he said: “We are striving to reach the best possible stage, and we have a group of distinguished players who are eager to give their best, and we will return to work for the next task.”

Forward Thamer Al-Khaibari said that the goal of participating in the continental Olympics was to compete for the title. On the upcoming match against South Korea, he said: “We came here with our eyes on the gold medal, and we promise the Saudi fans that we will give our all.

“We believe we have the technical abilities, and our age will not be an obstacle,” he added.

Meanwhile, colleague Saad Al-Mutairi emphasized that the Saudi team’s priority against Qatar was a victory by any margin.

On upcoming challenges the squad might face in the tournament, he added: “The difficulties might lie in adjusting to the sleep schedules due to the significant time difference, but with time, we will adapt and overcome this factor.”

He also pointed out that despite having the lowest average age of all commuting teams, the target for the team was to win the competition.