Manama: Under fire Saudi Arabia coach Frank Rijkaard faced a barrage of questions on Tuesday about his refusal to select Al Hilal midfielder Ahmad Al Afraidi for the Gulf Cup.
Saudi Arabia lost their opening Group B game against Iraq 2-0 on Sunday and now face a crucial encounter with Yemen on Wednesday at Khalifa Stadium. A second loss against their minnow neighbours, who have never beaten them in 15 attempts, would not only equal humiliation for the Saudis, but would also make them the first major casualty of the competition.
Having arrived as favourites as a result of their rich history of three Gulf Cup and three Asian Cup wins, the Iraq loss obliterated the nation’s belief and put Rijkaard’s job on a knife-edge, with the Saudi Football Federation having already passed through 34 coaches in 26 years.
Frailties in midfield have been blamed by the Saudi press, with Al Afraidi’s omission having prompted the biggest outcry.
But Rijkaard, who has taken the Green Falcons to their lowest ever position in the Fifa World Rankings (126) with just four wins in 12 matches since taking charge in June 2011, was quick to hit back — recalling their 0-0 draw with Argentina in a friendly match in November.
“There’s a lot of talk about the midfield, but this is exactly the same defensive line that we played with against Argentina,” said Rijkaard, whose three-year deal is reportedly worth Dh58.4 million.
“Everyone had positive things to say about that result so the defensive line can’t suddenly become bad against Iraq. With the exception of a few players, it’s exactly the same system.
“The truth is we conceded two goals against Iraq through set-pieces as a result of mistakes from individual players — it’s not the system.
“We haven’t chosen Al Afraidi because he hasn’t played for his club in a long a time. The real reason is the top scorers in the Saudi league are foreigners, not Saudis. We’ve scored three goals in seven games and they were all against Congo. Strikers are our problem, not midfield. I can only choose what’s available.
“The Saudi press is pushing players, criticising and interfering worse than the Spanish press does with Barcelona. They should be positive and encouraging.
“We are trying our best to achieve better results and the players have a good spirit and are working with co-operation to change things. We didn’t play well and now we hope to correct that against Yemen.”
