Saudi Arabia x South Korea [R] AC07

Discussion in 'Saudi Arabia' started by Saudi64, Jul 8, 2007.

  1. Saudi64

    Saudi64 Member

    Apr 28, 2004
    Riyadh KSA
    Club:
    Al Shabab Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    [​IMG] X [​IMG]

    The first match for Saudi Arabia, against South Korea, will not be easy as usual. First of all, Angus, a new Brazilian coach, chose a squad with many complains, mainly not choosing Nour and Hasan Mouath, and lately removing Hamed AlMontashri. There's some good talent, but lack of experience is gonna be a major setback for us, our oldest player in the field will be the 26 year old Khaled Aziz, and our captain is Yaser AlQahtani, 25 years old. Saudi Arabia is currently training in Indonesia, not much pictures from the latest trainings, but I'll look for some to post in the upcoming days. Thankfully, no injuries other than the 3 veterans, Hussien AbdulGhani (C), Omar AlGhamdi, and Mohamed Shalhoub, who IMO have reasonable but lacking experience replacements, except for Hussien.

    Our expected lineup, not official, and even Nawf Bin Fahd (Vice President of Saudi FA) said that the lineup is a big secret.

    -----------------------Yaser AlMusayleem----------------------
    Ahmed AlBahry--Osama Hawsawi--Waleed Abdurubh--Kamil Mousa
    --------------------Khaled Aziz---Tayseer AlJasem--------------
    ----------Ahmed Mousa-------------Abdulrahman AlQahtani-----
    ------------Malek Mouath----------Yaser AlQahtani(C)----------

    Expected Substitutes :-

    Ahmed Mousa --> Abdoh Otaif
    Abdulrahman AlQahtani --> Ahmed Darwish
    Malek Mouath --> Saed AlHarthi​


    Our goalie isn't the best, but he is alright. We have had big problems ever since 2006 WC in this position. Zayed wasn't great in the WC, and following a strong injury didn't play this season except last month with a below acceptable performance. Then Mohamed Khojah was the substitute, 3rd goalie in the WC, he began pretty well in the Asian WCQs, but in the Gulf Cup in January his performance began to go down, and Yaser AlMusayleem was the best overall, he played against Japan in Sapporo in the ACQs, and in the latest friendlies and its acceptable. Then we have the sidebacks, Kamil is somewhat good, a little bit experience and he could be a good replacement, likes to attack and has some nice crosses. But then Ahmed AlBahry isn't actually that great, injured all season, and had a finacial problem with AlNasr, only played 2-3 games at the end of the season. Next the centerbacks, the usual Tukar and Hamed has been cancelled this time, first since 2004 AC, replaced with Osama and Waleed. Osama is rather great, in the latest friendlies he marks his players well, and does great ball pressure, while Waleed seems tough but during the cup we should see more. With 2 defensive midfielders, it seems rather defensive, but at least Tayseer AlJasem helps the offense alot, and is good at dribbling in the penalty area, and has scored a goal against Singapore from that. While Khaled Aziz is a typical defensive midfielder, but somewhat slow, in movement and passes. Offensive midfield, we have the awesome Abdulrahman AlQahtani, great corners, around 3 corners from him has caused 3 goals, 2 from the short Malek. Also scored from a foul against Singapore, this guy will be shooting our set pieces, also great in dribbling and smart passes. His only setback is fitness, can't play the entire game for some reasons, as he's been subbed every time before 25 minutes from the end. Then you have Ahmed Mousa. In the Singapore friendlies, he did pretty much nothing, and neither his substitute Abdoh Otaif is that great, holds the ball a bit too much and usual gives away counters. Mohamed Nour would fit here perfectly, just imagine. Up ahead you have Yaser, well known dribbling, great headers also, but I think he has some finishing problems lately, and might not score a lot this AC. Then there's Malek Mouath. Lately, he does nothing in the game, lots of ball stolen from him, his shots unaccurate, but somehow there's always a chance where he simply puts the ball in the net, head or foot. I expect a lot of goals from him, inshallah all players score.

    Overall, I expect a good 1st half, lots of chances lost, might score one, and lead into the second half. 2nd half we go defensive, concede a goal, and in the last 10 minutes concede another 2nd goal, but if lucky we could hold on to the 1-1, and if we are extremely lucky our forward benefits from a counter and scores a second. In the end, قدره الله قويه.​
     
  2. Saudi64

    Saudi64 Member

    Apr 28, 2004
    Riyadh KSA
    Club:
    Al Shabab Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    Today's Training, some pictures :-
    [​IMG]
    Bahry from the left, Ahmed Mousa, Asaf AlQarni, Abdulrahman AlQahtani, Yaser AlMusayleem

    [​IMG]
    Tukar and Osama Hawsawi

    [​IMG]
    Angus, Malek, and Yaser
     
  3. Saudi64

    Saudi64 Member

    Apr 28, 2004
    Riyadh KSA
    Club:
    Al Shabab Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    [​IMG]
    Tayseer marking Yaser.

    [​IMG]
    Naser shoots, with Majed AlAmry close by.

    [​IMG]
    Saud Kariri left, Ahmed Darwish right.
     
  4. Saudi64

    Saudi64 Member

    Apr 28, 2004
    Riyadh KSA
    Club:
    Al Shabab Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    [​IMG]
    Ahmed Mousa with the ball.

    [​IMG]
    Yaser AlMusayleem.

    [​IMG]
    Tukar, Majed, and Naser.

    They have been training on the game's stadium.
     
  5. kimchipride

    kimchipride Member

    Real Madrid
    South Korea
    Aug 22, 2006
    Club:
    Manchester United FC
    Good luck to Saudi Arabia!
    It's gonna be a hard match for both KSA and KOR
    Good Luck and let's hope it's an entertaining match. :D
     
  6. yimmy

    yimmy Moderator

    Aug 23, 2004
    California
    I hope Korea can finally get a win against KSA after 13 long years. :eek:

    Good luck to both sides! I look forward to an energetic and highly entertaining opening match of the Asian Cup.
     
  7. The One & Only

    Tottenham Hotspur
    South Korea
    Oct 8, 2006
    산 속에
    Nat'l Team:
    Korea Republic
    Let the better team take it all!

    Good Luck!

    Hope this is going to be the most interesting and anticipated 1st match ever in this Asian Cup 2007.
     
  8. adelo

    adelo Member

    May 9, 2007
    Mother of Pigeons
    Club:
    Al Hilal Riyadh
    I wish our boys good luck. But I think we will stick with our tradition of getting thrashed in the 1st match.

    Changing the coach and half the players every year as we have been doing in the past 7 or so years just don't make a strong and consistent NT.
     
  9. Sharkie

    Sharkie Member

    Feb 7, 2006
    UK and Arabia
    I hope we see a good game out of this, both teams are missing some key players but none the less this is the real deal, SA and SK have always had good clean matches lets hope the good relationship between the two countries continues, and I for one will have some Kim chi with my Kabsa to celebrate :D

    p.s I know I had the same post in the other thread, I'm too lazy dammit :p
     
  10. Saudi64

    Saudi64 Member

    Apr 28, 2004
    Riyadh KSA
    Club:
    Al Shabab Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    [​IMG]

    Angus in the press conference before the game said that SK will be the beginning to the campaign to win the AC. He also was impressed by Korea's skills and speed, but he said we will face them with skill and high spirits, and concentrate on their weak points and our tough points. He also said that the field of the stadium was bad compared to the other countries, but we will have to get used to it. He was also asked if flying to Malaysia if we qualify to the quarters 2nd will affect the team in terms of weather, but he said that the weather is all similar and that they have been used to the weather for 15 days.

    Also here's a interview with Tukar :-

    As Tukar prepares to play against the Korean national team this time, he is hoping that the experience he got from playing against Korean clubs will help him and his side to have a good start in their Group D opener on Wednesday.

    "I hope that the ACL experience from playing against Korean clubs will help," said that defender who made his international debut against Bahrain in December 2002. "Korea national team are a strong and well developed team.

    "We respect them a lot and that's why we have to put all the effort," he said.

    "In football nothing is impossible," referred Tukar to the big comeback his side had when Al Ittihad came from 3-1 defeat to win 6-3 on aggregate in the final of the 2004 AFC Champions League.

    "At some stages they were better than us but we used to beat them," he added. "However, I think that we can have a good match and take them down."

    "The match is very hard and it is very important," he continued. "The importance of the match is that it is the first match for us and Korea Republic are well known for their powerful displays.

    "They reached the semi-finals of the 2002 FIFA World Cup and they have qualified several times to the World Cup finals," he continued.

    "Our match against them will most likely determine who will qualify from the two teams.“

    Speaking about the Korean side they will be playing against, Tukar said that both teams are equal in terms of players' qualities and absentees.

    "Both teams are equal because even the Koreans have injuries and missing players. We also have injuries, missing players and I think that our players have good qualities like they also do.

    "I hope that on July 29 we will be here in Jakarta.”
    http://www.afcasiancup.com/en/news/index.asp?aid=48706&cid=1376&amth=7&ayr=2007
     
  11. Saudi64

    Saudi64 Member

    Apr 28, 2004
    Riyadh KSA
    Club:
    Al Shabab Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    [​IMG]
    No idea why they are so excited.

    [​IMG]
    Malek Mouath

    [​IMG]
    Nawaf Bin Fahd talking with the players.
     
  12. adelo

    adelo Member

    May 9, 2007
    Mother of Pigeons
    Club:
    Al Hilal Riyadh
    If you have not tried Kimchi before, I suggest you don't. It's some serious shit, and the garlic smell of your breath will last until the next day. So keep your mouth closed:D
     
  13. Saudi64

    Saudi64 Member

    Apr 28, 2004
    Riyadh KSA
    Club:
    Al Shabab Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    Game should begin on 3:35 PM Saudi time, but I guess everyone knows that already. Game will be shown on :-
    AlJazeera Sport 1
    Saudi Sport
    Dubai Sport
    AlKass & AlDawri Channel
    Abu dhabi Sport
    AlIraqiya Sport
    Kuwait Sport
     
  14. HiJazzey

    HiJazzey Member

    Jan 29, 2002
    London
    Club:
    Al Ittihad Jeddah
    Kimchi is nice, particularly the cucumber and radish ones.

    Come on Saudi!
     
  15. Saudi64

    Saudi64 Member

    Apr 28, 2004
    Riyadh KSA
    Club:
    Al Shabab Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    Just calculated our average age of our NT, its 24.9 years old.
     
  16. Fabaraby

    Fabaraby Member

    Jun 26, 2005
    Edge of Unaykish
    Club:
    Al Ahli Jeddah
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia

    GOD I can't wait for Nawaf (the poet/artist) to get the HELL out of our FA. I'm sure he's a very nice guy but he does not belong in this job at all, and time has proven that again and again, this is a mans sport, not poet/artist softies...
     
  17. Breezy

    Breezy Member

    Apr 26, 2006
    Final Time

    Saudi Arabia 1 : Korea Rep 1
     
  18. adelo

    adelo Member

    May 9, 2007
    Mother of Pigeons
    Club:
    Al Hilal Riyadh
    Well I expected us (Saudis) to lose badly. We didn't, not because we performed well, but because Korea really were bad too and did not deserve to win.

    I cannot believe how anyone can start players like Abdallah Abd Rabbo, Ahmad Al-Moussa, in any NT team in the world. We were pretty much playing with 9 players. Kamel A-Moussa, Ahmad Al-Bahry, and Abdul Rahman Al-Qahtany sucked big time too. No pressing, no marking, no accurate passes, nothing. The rest were O.K.

    Abdu Utaif made a big difference when he came in instead of Mr. (10Mil SR/yr) Abdul Rahman Al-Qahtani. He is probably the only worthy playmaker we have.

    We have strong attack but weak defense, which means we might have a couple of good showings and good results, but we will exit in a knockout match due to our porous defence. Hopefully not before the semis.
     
  19. HiJazzey

    HiJazzey Member

    Jan 29, 2002
    London
    Club:
    Al Ittihad Jeddah
    I agree with you completely Adel. We were lucky that Korea fielded a weakened squad and that they didn't perform because the end of the undefeated streak looked imminent.

    But let's not focus too much on the players, the bigger problem IMO is we weren't a team. There was no shape to the team, and no tactics. It was all individual play.
    We had no midfield. Ahmad al-Moussa was upfront like a third striker and Abdulrahman al-Qahtani didn't know wether he was a winger or a playmaker (failing in both). Our two destroyers (Kariri and Aziz) were sitting in front of the defence protecting, leaving the Koreans with control of the game. It reminded of the 4-2-4 tactics some people use in winning eleven.

    A decent coach can work with the squad he's given and implement a system. Calderon managed it with us despite the (IMO enforced) dodgy team selections. I don't know what Dos Anjos was doing with the team. Yes time was short. All the more reason not to throw all the toys out of the pram and start us from scratch. Use the current squad and system as a starting point! But no, he had to field the weirdest lineup I've seen Saudi play in a competitive match.

    We just keep moving backwards. The days when we were the team to beat in Asia are becoming distant memories. We're barely hanging on to a place in the top tier.
     
  20. Saudi64

    Saudi64 Member

    Apr 28, 2004
    Riyadh KSA
    Club:
    Al Shabab Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    It was a bad game for our midfield, and even worse for our sidebacks. But we had 2 goal chances, but its still the beginning for our players, our centerbacks were good for once..
     
  21. Saudi64

    Saudi64 Member

    Apr 28, 2004
    Riyadh KSA
    Club:
    Al Shabab Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    [​IMG]

    [​IMG]
    I wonder what Bin Hammam was doing during the lightoffs.

    [​IMG]

    Saed AlHarthi, how could he miss that chance. well he actually shoots with the left.
     
  22. Saudi64

    Saudi64 Member

    Apr 28, 2004
    Riyadh KSA
    Club:
    Al Shabab Riyadh
    Nat'l Team:
    Saudi Arabia
    I'm gonna rate the players, feel free to add or comment :-

    Yaser AlMusayleem (7) :- He had 2 good saves, and did rather well, better than what I expected. Hopefully he will keep the good performance.

    Kamil Mousa (4) :- This guy was lost, the goal was simply his reason, he was taller and in the beginning of the cross was in the better position to head the ball away. He wasn't always in his position, sometimes he wouldn't got back and Osama or Waleed would cover his place and cause a mixup in the defense.

    Waleed Abdurubh (6) :- He was very shakey in the first 15 minutes, made a couple of fatal mistakes, but it was his first international game, but soon he was able to adjust to the game and did well overall. Their was one good slide from him, then he slided again up ahead.

    Osama Hawsawi (7) :- Had a great game, he saved us in the first 15 minutes, and was pretty good overall. Very concentrated too.

    Ahmed AlBahri (3) :- Very weak, never does ball pressure on the Koreans, and always give them some space. Also slow, and many inaccurate passes from him, Ibrahim Hazazi could be better than him.

    Khaled Aziz (5) :- Average performance, rather solid, but he would go cover in the left side, and the Koreans would play it back to the center, you'd see Khaled Aziz slowly move back, also the fast counter on the right in which he had bumped into the Korean and recieved a yellow, could have dealt with it better.

    Saud Kariri (5) :- Moves faster than Khaled, and saved us in the beginning of the game, but was a bit aggressive, and recieved a yellow card which was not needed.

    Abdulrahman (3) :- Good in dribbling but very slow in passing, inaccurate passes, and the ball would be stolen from him. I think if he plays in the Indonesia game he could improve rapidly.

    Ahmed AlMousa (6) :- Had some nice passes, like the chance for Malek in the first half. But maybe he seemed good only because of Abdulrahman's bad performance. 2nd half his fitness obviously went down.

    Abdoh Otaif (7) :- Was pretty good in the game, beautiful pass to Saed in the last minute, holds the ball well and most passes were accurate, but still if he could be faster he would be better.

    Yaser AlQahtani (4) :- Invisible in the game, returned to the midfield a couple of times and passed some well passes, but did nothing in the game. I think he was well marked from the Koreans.

    Malek Mouath (6) :- He was fast and dribbled well, but he couldn't score, espicially from that chance in the first half, he could have dealt with it better. But he still needs spaces to play well, and the Koreans didn't give him spaces, but thankfully he was able to cause a penalty.

    Saed AlHarthi (6) :- Even though he lost a dangerous chance in the last minute, he had only entered 2-4 minutes before the lights went off, so he wasn't really into the game at that time, but he had a nice shot even though he could have dealt with it better. Should start against Indonesia, Yaser seems a bit injured.
     
  23. adelo

    adelo Member

    May 9, 2007
    Mother of Pigeons
    Club:
    Al Hilal Riyadh
    Well, if someone did not actually see the match and saw only the hilites and match statistics, he might come to a different conclusion.

    We had more posession, and double the scoring chances, which were even more dangerous than their's.
     
  24. adelo

    adelo Member

    May 9, 2007
    Mother of Pigeons
    Club:
    Al Hilal Riyadh
    I think he's not that bad. But his hands are tied. The real problem is his drunkard weak uncle.

    remember when Faisal bin Fahad forced the presidents of Hilal, Nasr (who is an older cousin of his), and Ittihad to resign back in 1997 when things got out of hand? That's how to run Saudi Football; firm but just. Sultan on the other hand is afraid from amateur journalists:(
     
  25. usausa-redded

    usausa-redded Red Card

    Aug 28, 2006
    Korea almost edged Saudi arabia.
    Saudi Arabi ais lucky to get PK. the ref was very nice to saudi arabia.
     

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