On Thursday, Saudi Ammar Al-Haqbani, captain of the Saudi tennis team, qualified for the semi-finals of the doubles competition in the Kuala Lumpur International “Future” tournament, after he and his colleague defeated the Australian duo in two sets without a response, with a score of 6-3 and 6-4.
Al-Haqbani’s qualification in the doubles competitions coincided with his reaching the quarter-finals in the singles competitions in the same tournament, after he began his career by eliminating the German Muller, ranked fourth in the tournament, in two sets to none, with a score of 7-6 and 6-1, before surpassing the Taiwanese Tie Chen in the round of 16 in two sets to no response.
Al-Haqbani’s participation in the 15-point “Future” tournaments falls within his preparatory program in preparation for the upcoming confrontation against the Pakistani national team next February, within the Davis Cup competitions, during which the Saudi national team seeks to continue its progress in the world rankings of national teams.
The Saudi national team advanced to the second world group last August, after defeating its Singaporean counterpart 2-0 in the qualifying final, continuing its journey towards strengthening its presence in the Davis Cup competitions.
Since the start of his mission with the Saudi national team, Greek coach Denis has supervised more than 42 exercises, the first of which was in the United States of America, all the way to the current camp held in the State of Qatar.
During these sessions, Al-Akhdar players trained in 22 of them on the skill of possession, which is the highest training in terms of numbers under the supervision of the current technical staff, and this is an indication of the philosophy that Denis wants to implement in the Saudi national team.
“Fixed balls” comes in second place with 15 points, and during the matches supervised by the Greek coach, the Saudi team’s improvement in set pieces, offensively and defensively, was clear, to the point that the goal scored during the Saudi team’s participation in the 2026 World Cup was via a fixed ball when Abdul Ilah Al-Omari scored against the Uruguay team.
In third place comes the “passing” training, which is a fundamental pillar of Donis’s training philosophy by preferring to build from the back and pass under pressure.
In the second training session in the current Qatar camp, the Saudi national team players trained for the first time with a high-pressure tactical exercise, an indication of what is coming for the Saudi national team to face strong teams during the current camp in a new test of the Saudi national team’s development under the leadership of the Greek coach.
After the end of the current camp in the State of Qatar, Greek coach Denis will submit his technical report to the technical management of the Saudi Football Federation in a new procedure aimed at improving work, developing capabilities, and setting a clear map for the Saudi national team in future camps.
The technical management of the Saudi Football Federation is preparing continuously for all expected scenarios, so that it has a clear plan in the event of an unexpected scenario occurring, with the departure or stay of the coach, which makes the future decision more accurate and closer to the reality of the Saudi national team and not the other way around, so that each technical staff can complete the work of its predecessors in all the Sunni categories of the Green Team.
The Saudi national team will play two international friendly matches against the national teams of South Korea and Uzbekistan, on the 13th and 17th of November, at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in the Qatari capital, Doha, as part of the “Green” preparation program for upcoming international matches, as part of the technical staff’s efforts to enhance the players’ readiness and determine their technical and physical levels.
The Saudi national team will begin its friendly matches by meeting the South Korean national team, on Friday, November 13, at 5:30 pm, before facing the Uzbekistan national team, on Tuesday, the 17 of the same month, at 6:30 pm, in two tests that are expected to provide the technical staff with an important opportunity to evaluate the team’s performance against two different football schools at the Asian level.
The confrontation with South Korea is of special technical importance, given the Korean national team’s international experience and technical and physical capabilities, in addition to its ability to play at a high tempo and rely on speed in offensive transitions, which gives the Saudi national team players the opportunity to test their defensive capabilities and the extent of their ability to deal with pressure during the match periods.
On the other hand, facing Uzbekistan represents a different test for the “green” team, in light of the development that Uzbek football has witnessed in recent years, and the physical strength and tactical organization that characterizes its team, which allows the technical staff to evaluate the players’ ability to deal with different defensive methods and find appropriate offensive solutions.
It is expected that the two matches will constitute an opportunity for the technical staff to try out a number of technical options, and determine the extent of harmony between the team’s lines, in addition to evaluating the readiness of the elements that may get the opportunity to participate, which will contribute to expanding the base of options available during the next stage.
The international break also represents an opportunity to address some technical aspects, especially those related to offensive effectiveness, the speed of transition between defensive and offensive states, and strengthening organization on the field, which are elements that constitute great importance in building a team capable of providing stable levels against competitors.
The two matches come at a time when the aspirations of the Saudi fans are increasing for the team to appear in an artistic way that reflects the capabilities of its players and confirms its ability to compete in international competitions, especially since such confrontations give the technical staff important indicators that go beyond the results of friendly matches to evaluating collective and individual performance.
The focus during the two Doha matches will be on the extent to which Al-Akhdar has benefited from international experiences, and his ability to translate technical work into balanced performance on the field, in light of the importance of technical stability and raising the level of harmony between the players.
The confrontations with South Korea and Uzbekistan remain important milestones in the Saudi national team’s preparation process, and an opportunity to measure the level of technical development and determine the aspects that need more work before participating in the upcoming official matches.
Al-Qadisiyah is expected to regain a number of its stars after the current suspension period, specifically the names that moved away from the team in the last rounds, and the negative impact of their absence appeared in a number of matches.
Standing on the list of these names is veteran Spanish defender Nacho Hernandez, whose absence affected the average defense of the team in a number of important matches, especially against Al-Hilal in the struggle for the top spot in the league, which Al-Qadisiyah lost at home (3-2).
The team also lost his presence as an experienced leader on the field, and this is what Irish coach Brendan Rodgers pointed out in his response to Asharq Al-Awsat’s question about the impact of his absence against Al Hilal, after clear defensive errors were committed that had an impact on the loss.
In addition to Nacho and his medical rehabilitation from injury, Uruguayan player Nahitan Nandez, as well as defender Jihad Zakri, whose injury caused him to be removed from the list of the first Saudi national team, which is holding a camp in the State of Qatar.
With the team having difficult matches after the upcoming hiatus period and the pressure of eligibility due to the Saudi Professional League matches coinciding with the elite AFC Champions League, Al-Qadisiyah needs the presence of these names in order to help it in its local journey in the league championship, as it is in second place behind Al-Hilal, and ahead of Al-Nasr III on goal difference.
Perhaps the next confrontation with Al-Nasr, scheduled for next December 4, represents one of the most important matches that the team’s supporters are anticipating in order to break the partnership with Al-Nasr on the points tally, or even advance again in the positions, although that match will be preceded by a number of matches for each team.
With a quick glance at Al-Qadisiyah’s matches against Al-Nasr since Al-Qadisiyah’s return to the professional league, it appears that it is the only one that outperformed Al-Nassr in the four regular matches in the past two seasons, whether in Riyadh or Dammam, to record a clear superiority and moral motivation that the team seeks to maintain.
It is likely that Nacho's return will be against Al-Fayhaa on November 27, that is, the match that precedes the regular confrontation with Al-Nasr, while it seems that Nandez's return will be delayed a little.
Al-Qadisiyah’s benefits this season will be on several levels: It is competing in the League Championship and the Asian Elite Champions Championship, as well as the Saudi Super Cup scheduled to be held in Kuwait starting next December 18, in addition to continuing in the King’s Cup Championship, as it is the only team among the teams in the Eastern Region that competes in all four of these competitions.
In terms of other injuries, defender Walid Al-Ahmad is likely to return to group training next December after completing the treatment stages of the cruciate ligament injury that he suffered against Al-Ahly, in mid-March, in the league matches of last season, where he spent nearly 8 months in the treatment stages.
