Asian Cup, Coach Saudi Mancini: “The Round of 16 Against Korea is a Difficult Match”
Coach Roberto Mancini, who leads the Saudi Arabian national soccer team, predicted that the round of 16 match between Korea and the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup will be a difficult match for both sides.
At a press conference following the 2023 AFC Asian Cup group stage third match against Thailand (0-0 draw) held at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on the 25th (local time), Coach Mancini evaluated the next opponent, Korea, as a 'very good team'. did. 카지노사이트킹
According to APTN, an affiliate of the Associated Press, Coach Mancini said, "Most of Korea's players play in Europe. These players have had a lot of good experience.
They have played in Europe for many years, and that is a little different from us."
Korea (1 win, 2 draws), led by coach Jürgen Klinsmann, tied 3-3 with Malaysia in the final match of Group E, qualified for second place in the group, and will compete with Saudi Arabia (2 wins, 1 draw), first place in Group F, to advance to the quarterfinals.
The two teams will clash at Al Rayyan's Education City Stadium at 1 a.m. on the 31st, Korean time.
Regarding the match against Klinsmann, Coach Mancini said, "Football lasts 90 minutes.
Anything can happen during those 90 minutes," and predicted, "It will be a very difficult game for us and for them."
In fact, Opta, a media outlet specializing in soccer statistics and records, also predicted that the Korea-Saudi Arabia match would be the most closely contested of all the round of 16 matches.
Opta analyzed that there was a 52.7% chance that Klinsmann would defeat Saudi Arabia and advance to the quarterfinals.
It was seen that the power of both teams was virtually similar.
Even in the Iraq-Jordan match, where the difference in power between the two teams is considered to be the smallest after the match in Korea, one side is expected to have the upper hand in about 60% of the cases.
Opta predicted a 59.5% chance for Iraq, the leader in Group D, to advance to the quarterfinals, and a 40.5% chance for Jordan, which drew 2-2 with Korea in the second game of Group E.
Saudi Arabia ranks 56th in FIFA, 33 places lower than Korea, which ranks 23rd.
However, it is a formidable opponent who has reigned as a traditional powerhouse in the Middle East.
Among Middle Eastern teams, the FIFA ranking is the second highest after Iran (21st).
Saudi Arabia under Mancini has already lost to Lake Klinsmann once.
In a friendly match held in England last September, Korea lost 1-0.
For Korea, it was Coach Klinsmann's first win in six games since he took office at the end of February last year.
However, because Coach Mancini had just taken office at the time, he was unable to steer the team in the desired direction.
After losing in the Korean War, Saudi Arabia is cruising in A matches with 6 wins, 3 draws, and 1 loss.
Coach Mancini is considered one of the world's greatest soccer leaders.
He led Italian Inter Milan to three consecutive Serie A titles (2005-2006, 2006-2007, 2007-2008 seasons).
After moving to Manchester City, he led the team to win the English Premier League (EPL) in the 2011-2012 season, and since 2018, he has led his home country's Italian national team to victory in the European Football Championship (Euro 2020).
It was reported that he agreed to receive an annual salary of 25 million euros (about 36.1 billion won) when he signed a contract with Saudi Arabia in August last year.