Denis praises the performance of the Saudi team and calls for improving decisions in difficult moments

The Greek Donis, the coach of the Saudi national team, stressed the importance of winning the opening match against Kuwait and getting the three points in “Gulf 27”.

Denis said during the press conference after the confrontation: First, I congratulate you on the occasion of Saudi National Day, and I would like to congratulate the large fans who were beside us and supported us from the first second until the end of the match. This was our first match today and it was very important for us to win; The players did their best, but we must improve our decisions in difficult moments, as we have quality and brilliant players.”

He added: We created many chances today, but we have to address this problem step by step. We don't want to create 22 chances and score just one goal. Rather, we want to create five good chances and score from them. It is good that we continue to create big chances, but our team must make the right decisions at the right time inside the opponent's penalty area.

He explained: I have been in Saudi Arabia since 2015, and I recently spent 8 years here, and I know the amount of opportunities the national team created in the past. For me, the team was great at the World Cup, and I think we performed well against Spain, and to some extent against Cape Verde.

In response to a question about evaluating offensive performance and the decline in scoring compared to chances, Donis explained: When we want to analyze something, we have to look at it from both sides. Sometimes it is difficult to score because chances are not created in the first place, but today we created many of them, and we made the right decisions at times while we were not able to do so at other times. The most important thing is to gain the confidence and calm that enables us to make the appropriate decision. We now have different generations of experienced and young players, and we are trying to find the right balance between them.

Regarding the brilliance of Hammam Al-Hammami, Denis pointed out: We have to be realistic when talking about our players, such as Hammam Al-Hammami, Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, and Musaab Al-Jawir. These players need enough playing minutes with their clubs to gain confidence in their abilities. Abdullah Al-Hamdan is often a reserve, and Hammam did not participate much, nor did Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, who received limited minutes with his club. Players really need to participate with their clubs to gain confidence in their skills.

Al-Akhdar coach added, commenting on hiring Hammam and giving him confidence: I try to give the players confidence and calm in the national team, and this is one of my priorities, and they can gain that match after match. Hammam was not playing as a left winger in Al-Shabab Club due to the presence of Yannick Carrasco, but when Carrasco was injured, Hammam participated in this position and gave a distinguished performance. I told him before the match: “Don’t try to prove anything,” and he actually gave a very special performance.”

Regarding the upcoming confrontation against the Omani national team, Denis stressed: “I believe that we have a better and stronger team, and we will try with all our strength to achieve victory in the next match.”