CHINA: Abdulaziz Al-Aryani insists his Saudi Arabia side can bring the AFC U23 Championship back to the Kingdom as the Green Falcons prepare to kick off in the tournament in China.
Saudi Arabia face Jordan on Wednesday where they will hope to kick-start this campaign and go one better than the 2013 U23 Championship, when they lost out to Iraq in the final.
The Saudis will also face Iraq and Malaysia in Group C of the competition this year, and Al-Ittihad striker Al-Aryani is confident his team can go all the way.
“We are coming into this competition with one target, which is to win the title and then after that, if we succeed, then it will be registered on each player’s record and it will help him in his career,” he told the AFC website.
“Our group has teams that are equally strong, and the competition will be very tough between the teams. But we will do our best during the matches so that we can qualify for the knockout stages,” said Al-Aryani.
Having missed out on the knock-out stages in 2016, Al Aryani’s teammate Osama Al-Khalaf believes Saudi Arabia have a team more than capable of making a mark, as a result of an impressive preparation period.
“The Saudi squad for this competition is very good, we have 12 or 13 players who are in the starting list of the first team at the club level, so we believe that we have what is needed to compete here,” said the Al-Etifaq midfielder.
“Our preparations went very well. We played in the qualifiers, then had a training camp in Turkey and played an international tournament in China. In my opinion, our preparations were very good.”
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Al-Sadd will take on table-toppers Al-Hilal over two legs in early March in the next round while Al-Ittihad, who finished fourth in the standings, face off against Al-Wahda from the United Arab Emirates.
Defending champions Al-Ahli, also from Saudi Arabia, will play Al-Duhail from Qatar with Tractor meeting UAE’s Shabab Al-Ahli.
“Today was a very difficult game,” said Al-Sadd goal scorer Rafa Mujica. “The first 20, 25 minutes were very bad for us. We conceded everything.
“But we only have to think about the next game. We are qualified. We will see in the next game.”
Mancini’s team needed to match or better the result recorded by Al-Gharafa but went two goals behind inside the opening 18 minutes when Houssem Aouar and Youssef En-Nesyri struck for the visitors.
A Pedro Miguel own goal in the 33rd minute compounded Al-Sadd’s problems although Mujica gave Al-Sadd a glimmer of hope seven minutes before the interval.
Stephan Keller restored Al-Ittihad’s three-goal cushion when he scored with a close range finish in the 63rd minute as the Saudi side notched up their second comfortable win in a row.
Al-Gharafa’s hopes were erased, however, when their Iranian visitors scored twice in the final 30 minutes to knock Pedro Martins’ team out of the competition.
Mehdi Hashemnejad netted after the Al-Gharafa defense failed to clear in the 61st minute and Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh’s deflected effort into the top corner put the result beyond doubt with nine minutes remaining.
Saudi Arabia U23 team looking to bring AFC trophy back to the Kingdom
Saudi Arabia U23 team looking to bring AFC trophy back to the Kingdom
Related
Mancini’s Al-Sadd advance in Asian Champions League despite defeat
- Al-Sadd will take on table-toppers Al-Hilal over two legs in early March in the next round
- “Today was a very difficult game,” said Al-Sadd goal scorer Rafa Mujica
DOHA: Roberto Mancini’s Al-Sadd suffered a 4-1 thrashing at the hands of Saudi Pro League champions Al-Ittihad in the Asian Champions League Elite in Doha on Tuesday but the Qatari club still scraped through to the last 16 of the continental championship.
A 2-0 loss for Al-Sadd’s compatriots Al-Gharafa against Iranian outfit Tractor FC meant Mancini’s side clung on to eighth place in the western league phase standings to claim a spot in the knockout rounds.
Al-Sadd will take on table-toppers Al-Hilal over two legs in early March in the next round while Al-Ittihad, who finished fourth in the standings, face off against Al-Wahda from the United Arab Emirates.
Defending champions Al-Ahli, also from Saudi Arabia, will play Al-Duhail from Qatar with Tractor meeting UAE’s Shabab Al-Ahli.
“Today was a very difficult game,” said Al-Sadd goal scorer Rafa Mujica. “The first 20, 25 minutes were very bad for us. We conceded everything.
“But we only have to think about the next game. We are qualified. We will see in the next game.”
Mancini’s team needed to match or better the result recorded by Al-Gharafa but went two goals behind inside the opening 18 minutes when Houssem Aouar and Youssef En-Nesyri struck for the visitors.
A Pedro Miguel own goal in the 33rd minute compounded Al-Sadd’s problems although Mujica gave Al-Sadd a glimmer of hope seven minutes before the interval.
Stephan Keller restored Al-Ittihad’s three-goal cushion when he scored with a close range finish in the 63rd minute as the Saudi side notched up their second comfortable win in a row.
Al-Gharafa’s hopes were erased, however, when their Iranian visitors scored twice in the final 30 minutes to knock Pedro Martins’ team out of the competition.
Mehdi Hashemnejad netted after the Al-Gharafa defense failed to clear in the 61st minute and Amirhossein Hosseinzadeh’s deflected effort into the top corner put the result beyond doubt with nine minutes remaining.
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