Doha, Qatar: A formidable Saudi Arabia side will begin its Asian Cup campaign today with their opening Group F match against neighbours Oman, looking to end their trophy drought in the continental showpiece.
The three-time champions, having won their last Asian crown in 1996, are brimming with confidence as they chase the long-awaited title glory in Qatar after enjoying their best football moments in the country with a historic 2-1 victory over eventual champions Argentina at the FIFA World Cup.
Under new coach Roberto Mancini, who masterminded Italy’s 2020 Euro title, the Green Falcons are looking for a winning start against an upbeat Omani team at the Khalifa International Stadium with kick off set for 8:30pm.
“We know we are a big team but this is also a very important tournament. We know there are many top national teams in this tournament, and we want to do our best job,” said Mancini, who also led Manchester City and Inter Milan in his long coaching career.
“We know if we want to win the title, we need to be very strong. Football is a strange thing; things can quickly change during the tournament. For Italy during the Euros, we were only the sixth favourites, but we won it.”
Mancini, who took the charge of the Saudi side in August 2023, held a two-week training camp that included friendlies against Lebanon and Palestine in build up for the Asian Cup.
The 59-year-old hoped the camp helped the players find back rhythm as not many of them got opportunities regularly with their clubs due to influx of foreign superstars to the Saudi Pro League.
“We have many players who often don’t play in their clubs, but we had two weeks of work and we worked well. All the Oman players play regularly, but we are happy with the players that we have. We brought them because we know they are ready to fight for their country, and we will also use the first three matches to improve their situation in terms of match fitness.”
Saudi Arabia will be boosted by Asian Player of the Year Salem Al Dawsari and Al Hilal midfielder Mohammed Kanno with Mancini bringing a mix of young and experienced players including 16-year-old Talal Haji.
Oman confident ahead of tough clash
While Saudi Arabia have dominated Oman in their previous clashes, the Reds defeated the Green Falcons in their last match, winning the Gulf Cup fixture 2-1 in January 2023.
Oman coach Branko Ivankovic was confident his team will give a tough challenge to the Saudis.
“As Omanis, we come here with great passion, our initial objective is to advance past the group stage. We start against the strongest team in the group Saudi Arabia. We have played against them and against other strong teams in recent months and played really well,” he said.
Ivankovic said Oman have done well against Saudi Arabia in the past, hoping his side to pull off a shock victory.
“We analysed Saudi Arabia’s matches in the qualifiers against Pakistan and also used our understanding of Mancini’s football philosophy, which is well known, but we always focus on ourselves more than we focus on the opponents,” he said.
“With all due respect to Saudi Arabia, we have proved many times that we can go toe-to-toe with any team we face, and the result will be decided on the pitch. What I want is to see the players being proud of themselves and putting in a performance that makes all Omanis proud.”
Oman are making their fifth appearance at the Asian Cup with Ivankovic hoping to guide the team far in the tournament after they qualified for the Round of 16 for the first time in the previous edition.
Today, the Group F action will begin with a game between Kyrgyzstan and Thailand starting at 5:30pm at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.
