Abdullah Al Salem, the Saudi national team player, expressed his happiness in scoring his first international goals with Al-Akhdar, stressing that representing the national team and scoring in his shirt were one of his dreams, following the victory over Iraq and finishing the group stage with a full score in the Arabian Gulf Cup “Gulf 27”.
Al Salem said in his speech to the media: “Praise be to God, I am very happy to achieve the victory, and our happiness is greater because we achieved it for the sake of the fans who came and supported us today.”
Regarding scoring the first goal in his international career, he said: “The feeling is indescribable, and I am very happy to represent the team, whether I participated for five minutes, ten minutes, or even one minute. Today was my first match as a starter, and I succeeded in scoring my first international goal, praise be to God.”
He added: “Representing the country is an indescribable pride and feeling, and it is a dream for any player. Today, I achieved one of my dreams by representing the national team and scoring in its jersey. This is something I have aspired to for a long time, and thank God it has come true, and God willing, the coming will be better.”
Regarding the Saudi team’s chances of winning the title, Al Salem explained: “I do not like to enter into predictions, as the semi-final matches are always difficult, and we will certainly face strong teams, but we hope to continue the journey and achieve the title.”
Al Salem praised the large crowd attendance, saying: “About 40 or 41 thousand fans attended today, and they did not neglect us and supported us even in times when we felt tired. When we hear their voices and encouragement, we feel that fatigue disappears. We thank them, and we certainly await their presence in the next match, and if 41,000 attended today, we hope that the number in the next match will not be less than 50,000.
Regarding the development of the team’s performance during the group stage, he said: “Today there was consistency and harmony among the group members, and this is the result of the work during the past three matches.”
He concluded: “Congratulations on the victory to everyone. We appeared today in a different and distinctive way, and our goal is to continue the journey until we achieve the title.”
Greek Georgios Donis, coach of the Saudi national team, expressed his happiness with the performance and spirit shown by the “Green” players against Iraq and the victory with a score of 2-0, achieving the full score in the group stage, indicating at the same time his concern about the increase in injuries among the team’s ranks during the Arabian Gulf Cup tournament “Gulf 27”.
Donis said in the press conference after the confrontation: “We lost a number of players; Hassan Kadesh previously, then Alaa Al Hajji and Nawaf Al-Aqidi, and now Zakaria, and I ask the players to be more careful.”
He added: “We want the players to be in the best physical condition, and what happened during these matches is not normal.”
The Saudi national team coach praised the performance of his players, saying: “I am happy with the players’ performance tonight. We created a number of chances and faced a difficult team. “I congratulate my players for the spirit they showed, and I also congratulate the fans for their exceptional support.”
Donis explained that the work he does with the players is not limited to the technical aspects on the field, adding: “From the first day, we talked with the players about the importance of focus, understanding the tactical approach, and respecting the rules. The focus is not limited to the field only, but it must remain at its highest levels at all times.”
He continued: “One of our priorities is to maintain the same level in every match, and it is important for the players to understand the way we play, and for us to continue working on it.”
Donis pointed out the importance of restoring the fans’ confidence in the national team, saying: “After every match, whether it is good or not, I have some messages that I give to the players. The first message is related to performance, and it is important to obtain the satisfaction of the fans, but the most important thing is that we have a regular team, and that we make sure that the fans trust the team, and that this confidence continues.”
Regarding his reliance on the 4-4-2 system, he explained: “As a coach, I prefer to have a strong player in the number 10 position, and in many cases I prefer to play with two attackers. Saleh Abu Al-Shamat needed to rest, and Muhammad Al-Qahtani suffered an injury, so we decided to play with two strikers; Abdullah Al-Hamdan and Saleh Al Salem.”
He added: “I am happy with what the attackers did. They are working hard. “The fans know very well the situation of the players in the league, specifically the strikers, and our mission is to employ them in the appropriate tactical manner and take advantage of the strengths that each striker possesses.”
Denis touched on the team’s tactical development, saying: “Our work is not limited to defense or attack only. In the World Cup, for example, we relied more on defense and faced some problems, and here we performed well when we focused on the offensive side.
Regarding set pieces, he said: “We faced a problem with them, but we improved our handling of them in the second half and succeeded in investing in them, just as we succeeded with set pieces during the last two matches.”
Denis revealed the ranking of the team’s set-piece takers, saying: “Musab Al-Jawir is our best at taking set-pieces, but he was excluded before the start of the tournament, and after him comes Saleh Abu Al-Shamat. “And against Oman, we were better at set pieces because the main attacker was present.”
