Riyadh: Saudi Arabia coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro was forced to plea for his job even after qualifying on top of Group A with a 1-0 win over Yemen on Wednesday.
Nawaf Al Abid’s half-hour strike from Taisir Al Jassim’s corner handed the hosts three points to add to an opening 1-1 draw with Qatar and a 3-0 win over Bahrain.
But seven points still wasn’t enough for the baying mob at the King Fahd International Stadium who had expected a more convincing display against Gulf Cup minnows Yemen. “I have repeatedly said that success requires concerted efforts and support of the fans,” said the Spanish former Real Madrid manager. “Changing coaches is not the solution to the problem. Saudi will only come good with the support of everyone.
“I’m very proud of the fighting spirit shown by my players. We didn’t qualify easily, this was not an easy match, but the team was able to compress and succeed in converting one of our attacks.
“We played strongly and fiercely with clever planning and I’d like to congratulate the players for their commitment in all aspects.”
The Green Falcons will now play the runner-up of Group B in Sunday’s semi-final. The general consensus in Riyadh is that anything less than tournament victory on home soil will result in Caro’s dismissal ahead of January 9-31’s Asian Cup in Australia.
“We’ll start thinking about the next game now,” added Caro. “For me all games are finals.
“We don’t have a preference over who we face in the next round as our fitness and mental strength is strong. We hope to continue and improve for the better, in order to achieve an even greater performance in the final.”
Caro defended his team by saying that the frequency of matches and parity of teams had made this a difficult contest for his players, so far. “It’s not easy to play a match every two days,” he said. “And in this tournament the level of all teams is equal. We have seen countries record three draws, so far, this means everyone is on an equal footing.”
Demonstrating Caro’s point, Qatar recorded a third straight draw in a goalless tie with Bahrain in Wednesday’s other Group A decider played simultaneously at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium.
The draw was just enough to see Qatar, who had drawn their opening games 1-1 with Saudi and 0-0 with Yemen, scrape through to the semi-finals as runners-up of Group A on three points. The Maroons will now face the winner of Group B in Sunday’s semi-final.
Meanwhile, Yemen and Bahrain, who had drawn their opener together 0-0, slipped out of the competition on two points apiece.