Mancini is Upset and Fans Call for His Dismissal
Saudi Arabian national team coach, Roberto Mancini, expressed his frustration over the irregular participation of his players in the local league, calling it a major issue for his squad.
The “Green Falcons” (Saudi Arabia) were held to a 1-1 draw by Indonesia in their opening match of the 2026 World Cup qualifiers. Following the game, Mancini addressed the media: “As I mentioned yesterday, the first match of the qualifiers is always challenging. The difficulty arises from the fact that the Indonesian team features exceptional players, many of whom play in Europe. Conversely, I am not pleased with our performance in the first thirty minutes and the wasted opportunities. In football, if you don’t capitalize on your chances, you won’t come out on top.”
Mancini emphasized the issue of missed opportunities, saying: “We’ve struggled with converting chances, as evidenced in previous matches. Today, we repeated this pattern by missing three acoring chances and a penalty.”
A critical point Mancini raised was the lack of consistent participation by Saudi players in the local league. He pointed out: “Is Mohamed Al-Owais getting regular game time at Al-Hilal? No. What about Hassan Tambakti? Mostafa Juweir, our standout player today, isn’t even featuring regularly with his club.” He elaborated: “We face teams where players are consistently active with their clubs. We are dealing with a situation where our players lack regular game time.”
He concluded: “We have 20 players on our list who are not regulars in the Saudi Pro League, which is a significant problem.”
In response to the mounting criticism on social media, Saudi Arabian Football Federation President Yasser Al-Mishal intervened to defuse the situation. He reminded fans of Mancini’s past achievements with European clubs and his national team. Al-Mishal emphasized that Mancini is dedicated to achieving positive results with the “Green Falcons” and affirmed the federation’s confidence in their coach, who now has a deeper understanding of Saudi football after a year in his role.
In notable performances from the round, Bahrain secured a 1-0 victory over Australia, Palestine held South Korea to a 0-0 draw, the UAE triumphed 3-1 over Asian champions Qatar, Iraq defeated Oman 1-0, and Kuwait and Jordan drew 1-1.
The 18 Asian teams advancing from the second round will be divided into three groups, with the top two from each group qualifying for the World Cup finals after ten rounds extending until June 2025. Additionally, there are two spots available in the fourth round for the third and fourth-place teams, with the possibility of up to nine teams making it through an intercontinental playoff.
