The Gulf Cup is out of the game, and the Saudi coach is questioned about being inferior to Mancini

The reporter reported coldly The 1-2 reversal by Saudi Arabia in the round of 18 with one more player at home has made it difficult for national football fans to calm down, and for Saudi fans, they also experienced a similar embarrassment in the just-concluded semi-finals of the Gulf Cup. After more than 60 minutes, the Saudi team lost 1-2 to Oman and missed the Gulf Cup final. Second-time coach Hainach failed to deliver on his promise to win the title, and the Saudi media and football circles reached new heights of skepticism. And the Saudi team's main national goalkeeper Owais suddenly announced that he wanted to retire from the national team, which exacerbated the crisis of the team.

In the 34th minute of the first half of this game, Oman was sent off, but the Saudi team, which played one more person, not only failed to attack for a long time, but conceded two goals in the second half. Although he pulled a goal back before the end of the game, he was unable to recover in the end.

After the game, Omani defender Al-Qamis used his mouth to push up the prepared red balloon as a "revenge" for the way Saudi Arabia celebrated after beating Oman in the Asian Cup earlier this year. At that time, Saudi defender Al-Burich tossed a green balloon in celebration after the game, and the video went viral on social media platforms in the Middle East. This time, the Omanis "retaliated with a tooth for a tooth", and the Saudi team was extremely embarrassed.

Hainach refused to admit defeat, admitting that his team's defensive performance was poor, but highlighted injuries and suspensions, and also believed that Oman's first goal was a miscalculation. However, he also admitted that with eight goals conceded in four games, Saudi Arabia's defensive quality cannot win the championship, "We need to play better defensively, and if we want to succeed in the round of 18, we can't give the opponent so many chances to score." ”

Doubts about Hainach in the Saudi media and football circles have reached new heights, with the Saudis conceding in all six games since Hainach's return, with only a clean sheet conceded in a draw away to Australia on their debut in November. In the 6 games, only the pre-Gulf Cup warm-up match against Trinidad and Tobago, the third game of the Gulf Cup group stage against Iraq scored first, and the remaining 4 games were all conceded first and were all 0-2 behind, but only against Yemen won in stoppage time.

The opponents who lost to Indonesia (130), Bahrain (81), and Oman (80) are all ranked lower than Saudi Arabia (59) in the world, and only Iraq (56) is ranked higher than Saudi Arabia in the three games. Trinidad and Tobago (102) and Yemen (158) are ranked lower than Saudi Arabia in the world.

Saudi media believe that Saudi Arabia is worse than Mancini when he was in charge of the round of 18. Heinach could use as many as 10 absolute key players injured or suspended as an excuse for his defeat, but his use was questioned, and he carried out a purge of the main players of the Mancini era, but his over-relied defender Breich made fatal mistakes in all four games; The forward line insisted on starting the young but in-form Radif team, ignoring the Saudi league's homegrown golden boot Salem, and in addition, homegrown players such as Gharib and Ammar were not taken seriously.

Former Saudi Arabian international Shamrani, former leader of the national Olympic team Qadi and other celebrities believe that Hainach is responsible for the fiasco. The Frenchman's misuse, tactical confusion and stubbornness led to even worse performance. Saudi Arabia's defensive mistakes were never corrected, especially from set-pieces.

Some Saudi fans demanded the dismissal of Hainakh, and Prince Faisal, the former chairman of the Riyadh crescent, even demanded the resignation of Saudi Football Federation chairman Mashaal, who publicly apologized and took full responsibility after the loss.

Saudi players are also disheartened, and the main goalkeeper Owais wants to retire from the national team, which has caused heated discussions in the media. Al-Owais has been a regular in recent years, but was put on hold when Hainach took over in November, and it was not until Saudi Arabia went on a three-game winless streak and conceded as many as five goals that Owais returned to the main position. However, he also conceded five goals in three appearances, especially in the Gulf Cup semi-finals, when he made a mistake in setting up a free-kick defense and conceded a goal, which was slammed by the media and fans.

In addition to Owais, captain Salim Dosari and centre-back Breich are also looking to quit. The Saudi Football Federation is still trying to retain it, and the president of the Football Association, Machar, said that there will be further measures for the Saudi team's performance in the Gulf Cup. But how exactly is not yet known.

It is reported that the national football coach Ivan has fully inspected the Gulf Cup match between Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. On January 8, after the national football training camp, in addition to strengthening set-piece training, it will also formulate a training plan for the two top 18 opponents.