Asian Cup Team Profile: Saudi Arabia

Coming off a strong Gulf Cup campaign, Saudi Arabia has a strong history at the Asian Cup - as a three-times champion - and will be setting its sights on reaching the knockout stage after some recent failures.

Saudi Arabia's starting eleven

Saudi Arabia's starting eleven pose for a group picture ahead of the final of the 22nd Gulf Cup football match against Qatar at the King Fahad stadium in Riyadh, on November 26, 2014. AFP PHOTO/ FAYEZ NURELDINE (Photo credit should read FAYEZ NURELDINE/AFP/Getty Images)

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COACH: Cosmin OLAROIU (ROM)
CAPTAIN: Osama HAWSAWI (Al Ahli)
NICKNAME: The Green Falcons
ASIAN CUP APPEARANCES: 8 (1984, 1988, 1992, 1996, 2000, 2004, 2007, 2011)
BEST FINISH: Champions (1984, 1988, 1996)
FIFA RANKING: 102
AFC RANKING: 11
HOW IT QUALIFIED: Romped through Group C ahead of Iraq, winning five and drawing one of their six matches.
RECENT FORM: Lost the Gulf Cup final to Qatar, on home soil, and has since struggled in losing 4-1 to Bahrain and 2-0 to Korea Republic in Asian Cup warm-up matches.

MAIN MAN: Nasser AL SHAMRANI (Al Hilal)

A player who is, by now, well known to Australian audiences, Al Shamrani is a clear first choice to lead the line for the Saudis and is regarded as one of the deadliest finishers in Asian football.

Clearly hot-headed, the man known as the Earthquake, is a bullocking forward comfortable in either the air or on the ground and – on footballing merits at least – was deservedly awarded the Asian Footballer of the Year gong barely a month ago.
ONE TO WATCH: Fahad AL MUWALLAD (Al Ittihad)

Rated by many judges as one of the most promising players in Asia, the 20 year-old winger is already reportedly on the radar of several leading European clubs.

Possessing searing pace, trickery and an eye for goal the Al Ittihad man will likely be used off the bench – and could cause tired defenses all sorts of trouble.

OVERVIEW:

Saudi Arabia is one of the great enigmas of Asian football, traditionally regarded as a powerhouse of West Asia but a nation that has struggled in recent times.

Without a World Cup appearance since 2006 and crashing out at the group stage of the previous Asian Cup while losing all three matches - and going through as many coaches - it's clear the Green Falcons are no longer one of the 'heavyweights' of the region.

That said, Saudi Arabia reached the final of the Gulf Cup on home soil late last year, losing to Qatar in the final and it possesses a side stacked with some of the most exciting young talent in the confederation.

The challenge now for 'on-loan' coach Cosmin Olaroiu is to mould the players into a unit capable of producing cohesive football in a group that is wide open.

With a probable seven of the starting 11 being drawn from the ranks of ACL runner-up Al Hilal, it makes his task somewhat easier although the side has struggled in recent losses to Bahrain and Korea Republic.

Such is the depth of attacking talent available it's probable the electrifying Fahad Al Muwallad and Naif Hazizi will be used as impact players rather than starters in a first XI that looks relatively settled.

Waleed Abdullah will be the man between the posts and while Yasser Al Shahrani and Abdullah Al Zori will battle out the left-back slot, Saeed Al Mowalad will hold down the opposite defensive flank.

The two Hawsawi's – Omar and Osama will likely reprise the central defensive pairing that was effective at the Gulf Cup while there is a genuine battle for one of the defensive midfield slots alongside veteran Saud Kariri.

The front four is a fluid unit able of interchanging positions and in the recent loss to Korea it was Nawaf Al Abed who was handed the central playmaking duties behind Nasser Al Shamrani.

Undoubtedly possessing the talent to make a huge dent in the tournament, there are too many question marks around stability in the group, the combustibility of certain key players and recent form to see Saudi Arabia actually winning the title.

Will probably be in a battle with China for second spot behind Uzbekistan in the group.

PREDICITION: GROUP STAGE

PROBABLE STARTING LINEUP: 4-2-3-1



FULL SQUAD:

GOALKEEPERS: 1. Waleed ABDULLAH (Al Shabab); 21. Abdullah AL SUDAIRY (Al Hilal); 22. Abdullah AL ENEZI (Al Nassr)

DEFENDERS: 2. Saeed AL MOWALAD (Al Ahli); 3. Osama HAWSAWI (Al Ahli); 4. Abdullah AL ZORI (Al Hilal); 5. Omar HAWSAWI (Al Nassr); 12. Hassan MUATH FALLATAH (Al Shabab); 13. Yasser AL SHAHRANI (Al Hilal); 16. Motaz HAWSAWI (Al Ahli); 23. Majed AL MARSHEDI (Al Shabab)

MIDFIELDERS: 6. Mustafa AL BASSAS (Al Ahli); 7. Salman AL FARAJ (Al Hilal); 8. Yahya AL SHEHRI (AL Nassr); 11. Waleed BAKSHWEEN (Al Ahli); 14. Saud KARIRI (Al Hilal); 17. Taisir AL JASSIM (Al Ahli); 18. Salem AL DOSARY (Al Hilal); 19. Fahad AL MUWALLAD (Al Ittihad); 20. Nawaf AL ABED (Al Hilal)

FORWARDS: 9. Naif HAZAZI (Al Shabab); 10. Mohammad AL SAHLAWI (Al Nassr); 15. Nasser AL SHAMRANI (Al Hilal)

GROUP B FIXTURES:


Saturday 10 January 2015
Saudi Arabia v China, Brisbane

Wednesday 14 January 2015
DPR Korea v Saudi Arabia, Melbourne

Sunday 18 January 2015
Uzbekistan v Saudi Arabia, Melbourne


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5 min read
Published 9 January 2015 12:00am
By Scott McIntyre

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