Firas Al-Braikan, the Saudi national team striker, missed Al-Akhdar’s group training on Monday evening, after suffering from a cold, at the start of the preparatory camp in the Qatari capital, Doha, in preparation for two friendly matches against South Korea and Uzbekistan during the international break for the month of November.
The beginning of the camp witnessed the joining of the full-back Saud Abdul Hamid to the Saudi national team mission on Monday evening, while the player Hammam Al-Hammami began his special rehabilitation program under the supervision of the medical staff.
On the field, the Saudi national team players conducted their first training session on the Ersal Stadium, under the supervision of Greek coach Georgios Donis. The training began with warm-up exercises and getting used to the ball, followed by tactical exercises and possession exercises, before concluding with a technical maneuver during which the players were divided into three groups.
Al-Akhdar continues its preparations on Tuesday evening, holding a training session at six-thirty at the Ersal Stadium, with the media being allowed to follow the first quarter-hour of it.
During the Doha camp, the Saudi national team will play two friendly matches at Khalifa bin Hamad Stadium, the stadium of Al Sadd Club, as it faces the South Korean national team on November 13th, before meeting the Uzbekistan national team on the 17th of the same month.
Al-Qadisiyah Saudi Club announced, on Monday, its nomination for the “Best Team for Attracting Players of the Year” award, within the “Transfer Room” Awards for the year 2026, becoming the first Saudi club to enter the list of competitors for the award, which includes 10 clubs from different leagues around the world.
According to a statement issued by the club, a copy of which was obtained by Asharq Al-Awsat, the list of candidates included, in addition to Al-Qadisiyah, Atletico Madrid of Spain, Stuttgart of Germany, PSV Eindhoven of Netherlands, Club Brugge of Belgium, Sunderland of England, Dinamo Zagreb of Croatia, Flamengo of Brazil, Orlando City of America, and Viking of Norway.
Al-Qadisiyah’s nomination comes within the first edition of the “Transfer Room” Awards, which were launched to honor distinguished clubs, agencies and leaders in the player transfer market, after the candidates were selected through a direct vote from their counterparts working in the football sector.
The “Best Player Recruitment Team of the Year” award is given to the work teams responsible for contracts within clubs, according to criteria related to discovering talent, evaluating players, planning recruitment operations, and the extent to which deals are compatible with the technical and strategic needs of the clubs.
Al-Qadisiyah’s nomination reflects the club’s trend during the recent period towards building a team capable of competing, by attracting players in advanced stages of their artistic career, investing in young talent, in addition to giving Saudi players greater opportunities, and linking contracts to the team’s needs and long-term goals.
This approach is based on coordination between the technical, administrative and financial aspects, in order to achieve a balance between enhancing the team’s competitiveness, maintaining technical stability, and raising the investment value of the players, while taking into account financial sustainability.
The Transfer Room Awards include five categories: Best Player Recruitment Team, Best Loan Management Team, Best Agency, Intelligence and Innovation Award, and Best Leadership.
The launch of the awards coincided with the number of transactions completed through the platform’s digital market reaching 10,000 transactions, as part of events held in the Portuguese capital, Lisbon, on Monday, November 9.
Seven rounds were enough for each team to lose at least once, but it was not enough for anyone to stay at the top, and after the end of the first seven rounds and at the halfway point of the Saudi Women’s Premier League, Al-Nasr enters the stopping period, two points ahead of Al-Qadisiyah and Al-Ittihad, while Al-Hilal stands five points away from the top in a race whose first half left more than one path open to the title.
Al-Nasr’s lead bears a remarkable paradox, as the team that collected 18 points has a goal difference of +11, compared to +27 for Al-Qadisiyah, +14 for Al-Ittihad, and +18 for Al-Hilal. However, it was the most victorious among the eight teams with six victories, and the number of matches it won gave it an advantage that the greater scoring differences of its followers did not give it.
The results of the confrontations between the top four reveal a finer side of the competition. Al-Nasr and Al-Ittihad collected six points each in their matches within this group, compared to four for Al-Qadisiyah and a point for Al-Hilal. Al-Nasr defeated Al-Hilal and Al-Qadisiyah and lost to Al-Ittihad, while Al-Ittihad overcame Al-Hilal and Al-Nasr and stumbled against Al-Qadisiyah, in a circle of mutual victories that left the summit without a team superior to all its direct competitors.
However, the difference between the leaders and Al-Ittihad was formed outside of these confrontations, as Al-Nasr won the full 12 points against the teams in the second half of the standings, while Al-Ittihad collected ten points, after tying with NEOM 3-3, and here the value of the details appears in a tight race, as a stumble against a team outside the top four may have the same effect as the result of a direct confrontation at the top.
As for Al-Qadisiyah, it enters the stoppage with 16 points in its balance from five wins, a draw and a loss, after its last two matches ended in a draw with Al-Hilal and a loss against Al-Nasr, and its great scoring tally did not prevent it from losing five points in these two rounds, so regaining the victories became its first demand upon return.
Al-Ittihad shares the same balance with it and the record of victories, draws and defeats, which makes the second half an opportunity for both of them to change the ranking in which there is no point difference between the leaders’ pursuers, and in return, Al-Hilal has 13 points from four victories, a draw and two losses. This is a balance that keeps him close, but it also makes the compensation space linked to the points left by his competitors.
Behind this quartet, Al-Ula stands fifth with nine points, four points away from Al-Hilal, after finishing the first round with three wins and four defeats, a position that gives it the opportunity to get closer to the front as much as it forces it to search for more stable results in the remaining rounds.
The accounts at NEOM and Al-Ahly differ. The first collected five points and the second four, and neither of them achieved except one victory. As for Esperance, it ended its seven matches without points to begin the second half searching for a result that would break its series of losses and give it a different start.
With 21 points remaining for each team, the break period does not seem to separate two similar halves. The leader wants to maintain a small advantage and his pursuers are looking for one stumble that will re-arrange the top, while the rest of the teams are waiting for an opportunity to adjust their position, while the first leg ended with a difference of only two points. As for the second leg, it will determine which teams can keep what they gained and which will pay the price for what they lost.
