Firas Al-Braikan, the Saudi national team player, congratulated the Al-Akhdar fans after qualifying for the 27th Gulf Final, praising their great support for the players and promising them to provide their best and the players’ best in order to achieve the title.
Al-Braikan said in statements after the end of the match that the match was difficult against the Qatari team, which retreated and relied on counterattacks in order to take the match to penalty kicks.
Al-Braikan added that the Saudi national team players played a strong match, but did not create many chances, which some may feel that the national team appeared less well than in previous matches.
Al-Braikan concluded his statements by saying that the Saudi national team had only one step left to please the fans, whom he thanked for their support of the players throughout the tournament.
The English national team inflicted a humiliating loss on its Croatian counterpart in its own home with a clean score in the third round of the third group competitions in the first level of the Nations League competition on Saturday.
England settled the result in the first half by scoring a quartet, which was alternated by captain Harry Kane (8), Jude Bellingham (21), Anthony Gordon (39) and Bukayo Saka (45).
The Three Lions team added two goals in the second half, starting with Kane, who scored his second personal goal for him and the fifth for his team after a pass from Elliot Andersen (53). The German Bayern Munich striker returned and passed a decisive ball to Bukayo Saka, who put it into the net (68), before he came out and Morgan Rogers replaced him in the 70th minute. The latter did not disappoint by concluding the scoring festival 3 minutes before the end of normal time (87).
Kane, 33 years old, raised his tally to 89 goals in 124 goals for his country.
The match, which was scheduled to be held behind closed doors for disciplinary reasons, was played in front of more than 6,000 children invited by the Croatian Federation, as permitted by the regulations, and in front of about 100 visiting fans.
England achieved its second victory in a row after the victory away from home over the Czech Republic 2-0, which came after losing at home to world champion Spain 2-3 in the opener.
The English team raised its score to 6 points, in second place behind Spain, which leads with a full score.
German coach Thomas Tuchel's men will host the Czech Republic in the fourth round on the sixth of this month, while Spain will take on Croatia on the same day.
The Spain national team continued its perfect start in the group stage of the European Nations League, achieving its third victory in a row, and defeating the Czechs with a score of 3-1 on Saturday.
Within the third round competitions in the third group of the first classification, the Spanish national team won at home with three goals scored by Lamine Yamal, in the sixth minute, Rodri in the 35th minute, and Mikel Merino in the 89th minute, while Jiri Slama scored the only goal for the Czechs in the 69th minute.
The match witnessed the expulsion of Ladislav Krejci from the Czech national team in the 85th minute, after receiving a second warning.
The Spanish national team raised its score to 9 points at the top of the standings, compared to 6 points for England in second place, and 3 for Croatia in third place, while the Czech national team is at the bottom of the standings with no points.
