The NT U-23 opens the U-23 AFC Asian Cup against Tajikistan

2022-06-02
19:32:06

The under-23 national team will open its matches in the “fourth” group of the U-23 AFC Asian Cup 2022 in Uzbekistan, tomorrow, Friday.

The under-23 national team will face Tajikistan national team at 8:00 pm in Uzbekistan time (6:00 pm KSA time), at the Lokomotiv Club Stadium in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent.

The players of the national team conducted their training session this evening at the Railway Institute stadium, under the supervision of coach Saad Al-Shehri and the assistant technical staff, during which they applied tactical training, followed by work on set balls.

On the other hand, the Asian Football Confederation, represented by the Organizing Committee of the U-23 AFC Asian Cup 2022, held a coordination meeting for the "fourth" group teams, during which a number of logistical, security, marketing, media and medical organizations were discussed, and the white kit for the national team was approved in the group stage matches.

On the other hand, the coach of the under-23 national team, Saad Al-Shehri, during the press conference held this evening, Thursday, which precedes the group stage matches of the tournament, explained that the group is not easy technically, indicating that they aspire to impose the personality of the Saudi team, starting from the first match against Tajikistan.

Al-Shehri indicated that they came to the tournament ready in all respects, and they have a clear goal, which is to return to the Kingdom with the gold medals after achieving the runner-up in the last edition of the tournament.

Saad Al-Shehri added: "We started work and preparation after we finished the Olympic Games (Tokyo 2020), and we did not have enough time, but despite that, we will strive to work and prepare to achieve our goals during this tournament".

Al-Shehri indicated that there is no weak group in the AFC Asian Cup, specifically the national team group, which includes technically distinguished teams, noting that all 16 teams are ready and their focus on achieving their goals is very high.

Regarding the list of players for this tournament, Saad Al-Shehri said: “I have 50 players in the initial squad, all of them are technically distinguished and ready, and during this tournament we called the most prepared players, as well as undoubtedly we have the players Hassan Timbukti and Firas Al-Braikan, who are with the first national team in its preparatory camp in Spain, they are expected to join our U-23 national team in the tournament as soon as the camp ends”.

While the captain of the under-23 national team, Saud Abdul Hamid, praised during the press conference the good understanding between him and his fellow players, indicating that they know each other well on the technical level from the fact that they played together in several occasions.

Abdul Hamid confirmed that he and his colleagues have a great desire and motivation to present an honorable level worthy of the name of the Kingdom, explaining that their ambition is to compete for the title after they came as a runner-up in the last edition.