SEVILLE: Saudi Arabia coach Juan Antonio Pizzi declared himself happy with his side’s performance in the 2-0 friendly win over Greece on Tuesday night, although conceded he would have liked to have seen his players capitalize on their numerical advantage following the first-half dismissal of Greek defender Dimitrios Giannoulis.
A header from Salem Al-Dawsari and a late Mohammed Kanoo volley were enough to ensure the Green Falcons secured a second win in six days. However the two goals proved to be Pizzi’s side’s only two shots on target — this despite an understrength Greece team being forced to play the entire second-half with 10-men following Giannoulis’s sending off after a last-ditch foul on Salman Al-Faraj.
“It was a good game and we dominated the ball in terms of possession,” the Argentine coach said. “Of course, the final part of the first-half there was the red card, but even before that we were controlling the game. They managed only one dangerous attack, which hit the post, so overall we are happy with the performance of our players.”
Pizzi, a former striker, had spoken pre-match about the importance of his players showing confidence in front of goal. They have now managed just nine goals in six games and Mohammed Al- Sahlawi, Saudi’s sole striker, has not featured on the scoresheet in 11 calendar months. The Al-Nassr forward showed few signs of breaking his drought inside the Estadio de La Cartuja.
“Of course, normally, when you have a one-player advantage we would expect it to have a big impact, but it wasn’t quite like that,” Pizzi said. “We dominated in the first half and hoped we could have made more of that dominance in the second half, especially against 10 players. Normally, chasing a game with one player less, you have to give an advantage to the opposition, but that didn’t happen so much.”
Yet while Saudi did not test the Greek goalkeeper as often as they should have, they did show a creative side to engineer chances from both flanks. Yahya Al-Shehri, Al-Faraj and Yasser Al-Shahrani all enjoyed plenty possession, but they could rarely work a shot at goal. Greece finished the match with more shots at goal and more shots on target than their dominant opponents.
Greece had been selected because Pizzi believes them to compare physically to Russia, who they will face in the opening match of the World Cup on June 14 in Moscow. Yet with the friendly being played outside FIFA’s international calendar, Greece coach Michael Skibbe had been forced to select only home-based players.
“We chose Greece not exactly for the team, but rather the characteristics of the players and the high-profile of the opponent,” Pizzi said. “Although we knew the two games would not be played on official FIFA dates, we wanted to face such teams because they have the potential to be very powerful. Obviously some of their more high-profile players did not play because they were involved in domestic football in the countries they play in, but we are very satisfied overall with the level and performances this month.”
Juan Antonio Pizzi pleased with Green Falcons' ‘Russia preparation’ win over battling Greece side
Juan Antonio Pizzi pleased with Green Falcons' ‘Russia preparation’ win over battling Greece side
- A header from Salem Al-Dawsari and a late Mohammed Kanoo volley were enough to ensure the Green Falcons secured a win over Greece
- Pizzi, a former striker, had spoken pre-match about the importance of his players showing confidence in front of goal
Shakib Al-Hasan shines as MI Emirates down table-toppers Desert Vipers by 4 wickets
- All-round performance helped move the team back to second in the points table
DUBAI: MI Emirates registered a composed four-wicket victory over the table toppers Desert Vipers to seal their third straight win in the DP World ILT20 Season 4 at the Dubai International Stadium on Sunday. After a disciplined bowling performance in the first innings, MI Emirates overcame early pressure before Kieron Pollard and Shakib Al-Hasan guided the team to victory.
The Desert Vipers managed to score 124 courtesy of Dan Lawrence’s gritty 35 off 34 balls, but MI Emirates navigated a tricky chase with relative ease. With the ball, spinner Al-Hasan’s two wickets for 14 runs led the charge and kept the Vipers in check, before Zahoor Khan’s death bowling ensured the total remained below par.
In reply, MI Emirates stumbled in the powerplay and lost momentum in the middle overs, but Pollard’s 26 off 15 balls flipped the contest decisively. Even after his dismissal, Al-Hasan held firm to see the chase through, striking the winning boundary to complete a controlled four-wicket win with 15 balls to spare.
MI Emirates endured a slow powerplay as the Vipers applied sustained pressure. David Payne set the tone early, removing Jonny Bairstow (5 off 5), while Lockie Ferguson struck to dismiss Muhammad Waseem (18 off 13). They finished the powerplay with 35/2 on the board.
The batting side lost momentum through the middle overs as the Vipers bowlers tightened the screws. Nicholas Pooran (17 off 17) mounted a brief counterattack with two sixes but was trapped LBW by Lawrence. Wickets fell at regular intervals, including Tom Banton (10 off 10) being bowled by a sharp Qais Ahmad delivery.
Then, skipper Pollard swung the momentum decisively, taking Ahmad apart with a pair of sixes in the 15th over that turned the chase in MI Emirates’ favor. He was eventually dismissed by Matiullah Khan, but Al-Hasan (17* off 25) held his nerve, anchoring the finish before striking the winning boundary off Matiullah to close the chase at 124/6 in 17.3 overs.
In the first innings, the Vipers made a subdued start in the powerplay, as Chris Woakes was excellent up front, conceding just 15 runs from his three overs. Allah Ghazanfar struck the key blow by removing Max Holden (20 off 18). Fakhar Zaman (13 off 13) tried to build momentum, but the lack of boundaries and regular dots ensured the Vipers were restricted to 35/1 after six overs.
MI Emirates tightened their grip through the middle overs as Al-Hasan struck twice in a miserly spell to remove Zaman and Sam Curran (4 off 4), conceding just eight runs in two overs. Arab Gul added to the pressure by dismissing Hasan Nawaz (13 off 19), leaving the Vipers reeling after losing three wickets in as many overs and the score at 54/4 at the halfway mark of their innings.
Lawrence and Jason Roy (14 off 18) showed intent in patches, adding a cautious stand of 42 runs in 40 balls, but boundaries were scarce. Al-Hasan capped an outstanding spell, leaving the Vipers with little impetus. Khan delivered a decisive final over, finishing with two for 17, as regular wickets in the death overs ensured the Vipers were kept in check, leaving MI Emirates a manageable target of 125 to seal the chase.
Al-Hasan said: “It was a surface that suited the spinners, and the focus was on hitting the right areas consistently. I was able to do that today, which was pleasing. I’m glad it helped the team. Batting wasn’t easy on this pitch either. With so many powerful hitters in our lineup, someone needed to play the anchoring role, and I was happy to take on that responsibility to make sure we finished the chase.”
Desert Vipers stand-in skipper Curran commented: “It was another low-scoring game on a tricky surface. The pitch was slow, and facing a side like MI Emirates, who have high-quality spinners with a lot of variation, made it even tougher. Despite that, I thought our bowlers put in a strong effort. With qualification already secured, we chose to rotate the squad, and what happened to Lockie reinforces the importance of managing workloads.”
