watching friendly between Japan & Oman on following link: http://www.stream2watch.cc/live-events/football/japan-vs-oman-live-stream
Kiyotaka was the player to watch for in today's Japan friendly against Oman. Danger players including No. 9, 15, 10. Saudis can win a lot of foul with No. 11, and 7.
RUSSIA 2018 ASIAN QUALIFIERS THIRD ROUND: JAPAN V SAUDI ARABIA Vahid Halilhodzic, Japan “You don’t need so many philosophies in regards to this match; we’ll just do everything to win and although we know it’s difficult we’ve been working hard for that goal. I’ve said repeatedly that I want the players to play more at their club teams as they’re not robots and can’t play at the same level for the national team if they’re not performing for their clubs. “We need to control things in this match through hard work with a strong commitment and concentration and be sure not to make too many fouls but still use all the techniques in football - the last few years Japan hasn’t been able to do this and Saudi Arabia has.” Bert van Marwijk, Saudi Arabia “We are looking forward to this game, tomorrow we play against the big favourite in this group but we’re prepared and have a lot of confidence ourselves because we can also play football very well. “We always play to win, we try to play the same everywhere, whether in Saudi Arabia or abroad so it makes no difference to be here in Japan and while we know the quality of Japan I think they also know our qualities.” Head to Head Record 17/01/11 Saudi Arabia 0-5 Japan 25/07/07 Japan 2-3 Saudi Arabia 15/11/06 Japan 3-1 Saudi Arabia 04/09/06 Saudi Arabia 1-0 Japan Source: the-afc.com
Saudi NT to face Japan - Abdullah Owais Hassan Muaaz Osama Hwsawi Omar Hwsawi Yaser Shahrani Abdul Malek Khaibari Salman Faraj Yahya Sheri Tayseer Jassem Nawaf Abed Sahlawi
Yahya Sheri was the worst player on the field in the Saudi side today. Afterwards, it Salman Al Faraj who easily gave ball to opposing team, again near his own half when only 2 defenders are standing to hold the Japanese attack, when he's supposed to clearly make early passes. Fahad Al Muwallad was not to be seen while the main play-maker was only Nawaf Al Abid. Saudi Arabia clearly lacked creative, attacking, play-maker / movement maker Mid-Field players. Even Tayseer Al Jassim was not effective. Saudi should search a replacement for Osama Howsavi since he's not pacey any more. Don't know if there's any player in Saudi League who has any killer instinct in the Mid Field, and Central Defending caliber at the heart of defense. I am sure that Al Braik can replace Hassan Muaaz in next match, but who will replace Osama ?... Also, can Fraidy replace Shehri OR any other player replace him when he's not fit... Al Rowaili lacked match practice at international level. Saudi Arabia should really start playing friend game against competitive opposition. Otherwise, you cannot rely on player's club form. Play against South Korea, Scotland and Mexico / Philippines. Gotta have International Match practice for many players.
I was just comparing statistics of JPN v KSA with JPN v UAE, and it is evident that KSA did not played well in terms of Attempt on Goal i.e., JPN had 11 attempts on Saudi goal as compared to only 3 attempts on goal by Saudi. However, UAE had 11 attempts on goal in their match against JPN so UAE deserved a positive result in their match against JPN. See the JPN vs UAE stats on following link: http://www.the-afc.com/2018-fifa-wo...-final-round-japan-1-2-uae/sr-matchId/9291545 See the JPN vs KSA stats on following link: http://www.the-afc.com/2018-fifa-wo...eport-japan-v-saudi-arabia/sr-matchId/9291655 Don't know what frame of mind was the Saudi playing with ?... Also, it would have had been better if Saudi would have had played with 2 forwards / strikers.
First , I did not like the team selection. AbdullahOwais was surprise choice, I would have given Shamrani a run-out as he has got momentum in playing league games, Sehri was again a bad option when you have Fahd plus when he has scored in Japan.. Its good we got 4 months now and players will gain momentum in playing games and hope no stoppage hamper them and coach can really decide on the players form with clubs and get his starting XI. We have Moataz Hawsawi, Yaseen Hamzah and couple more who can replace Osamah Hawsawi..So no worries on that...Same for Hassan Muaz too.. @hammad_friend - Fraidy is not training with club, how do you except him to play with NT..Forget him for his sake..
Good news is Croatia or Switzerland can be finalised for a friendly in Doha mid-Jan.. Plus KSA requesting Qatar as venue for Iraq match..
Why Saudi FA playing in Jan 2017 instead of February 2017... The first match of the qualifyer is on 23rd March 2017 hence, it is clever to play by end of February 2017 (at least 2 friendly matches) than to play in Jan 2017 which is of no use. Can someone inform what's the logic behind playing in Jan 2017 and not by end of Feb 2017 ?... Saudi FA really needs to play friendly match just before the actual game .... Just like Japan played against Oman i.e., 2 days before the actual game against Saudi Arabia... This was really clever approach by the Japanese FA.
Saudi Arabia should watch AFF Suzuki Cup 2016, and seek similar opponent to Thailand for a friendly match. Similarly, play against some what similar opponent to Iraq such as Algeria
Playing against Phillipines or Singapore or even North Korea is a good option. While playing against Qatar can be an option too.
Its based on FIFA days and not other dates..No country n players will be willing to call players for NT when there is no FIFA dates..Do you think if Crotia accepts to play Saudi on non Fifa day , Modric will leave Real Madrid and come down to play..No way !!
So after the first half of games Saudi Arabia sit first in this group. But considering how close the standings are, I would in no way consider it a lock.
If I were to decide who to play then playing a friendly against full strength Indonesia would definitely be on my list of cards before the Thailand game. To play against some team similar to Iraq is a difficult choice since no team is similar to Iraq but I would consider playing against Morocco as they seems to be free.
Some new faces in KSA NT for camp in Abu Dhabi - حراسة المرمى : ياسر المسليم ، محمد العويس ، وليد عبدالله ، عساف القرني . خط الدفاع : حسن معاذ ، ياسر الشهراني ، محمد البريك ، عمر هوساوي ، أسامة هوساوي ، أحمد عسيري ، محمد ال فتيل ، منصور الحربي ، حسن كادش . خط الوسط : سلمان الفرج ، عبدالملك الخيبري ، عبدالمجيد الرويلي ، تيسير الجاسم ، حسين المقهوي ، عبدالرحمن الدوسري ، سامي النجعي ، يحيى الشهري ، عبدالفتاح عسيري ، نواف العابد ، سلمان المؤشر ، فهد المولد . خط الهجوم : محمد السهلاوي ، نايف هزازي ، ناصر الشمراني .
I hope Ghalib gets some minutes to get the NT call. When he is at his best he is a clear upgrade over any other DM in the team.
To be honest I know nothing about him. I just heard he was excellent in hist marketing job, but I hope he is more than that.
Ahmed Al Fraidy from Al Nasr, and Salem Al Dowsarry from Al Hilal deserve to be playing back at the National Team... I wonder when they will eventually get a call from Saudi NT selector ?