“Saudi League”: Doumbia returns to Al-Ittihad training... and December is the date for his return to the stadiums

Malian Mahamadou Doumbia, a player for the Saudi Football Federation team, entered group training, after recovering from the cruciate ligament injury he suffered last season, as a first step in his rehabilitation program to return to participating in matches.

According to what informed sources reported to Asharq Al-Awsat, the player needs about a month before he is able to participate in official confrontations, “as his joining group training does not mean that he is ready to participate in the team’s first confrontation, after the pause period, in Asia, against Pakhtakor of Uzbekistan.”

The technical staff's plan is to bring Doumbia back gradually, by first involving him in training with the group, before assessing the extent of his physical and technical response and giving him the opportunity to return to official matches.

According to the expected timetable, the player’s return to the stadiums may be during next December, but the date of his first participation is still undecided, in light of the program awaiting Al-Ittihad during the beginning of the month, which includes difficult confrontations starting against Al-Khaleej in Dammam, before traveling to Dubai to face Al-Wasl in Asia, then returning to Jeddah to compete in the Al-Ahly derby within the “Saudi Professional League” competitions.

The difficulty of these confrontations may prompt the technical staff, led by Portuguese Jens Vissing, to wait before giving the player the first opportunity to participate. In order to avoid rushing his return after a long injury, especially since the goal is to fully restore his readiness. It is certain that December will be the target station for the player’s return to competitions, after completing the stages of qualification and progression in training.

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 dead 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.