The Saudi Beach Soccer NT will face Iran in the AFC Asian Cup semi-finals

2025-03-28
19:36:50

The Saudi Arabia beach soccer national team will meet Iran tomorrow, Saturday, at 2:30 PM Saudi time, on the clay pitch at Jomtien Marina Beach, in the semi-finals of the 2025 AFC Asian Cup, currently being held in Pattaya, Thailand, and serves as a qualifier for the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, scheduled for May in the Republic of Seychelles.
On the field, the Saudi Beach Soccer Team concluded its preparations for the match with a training session on the secondary clay pitch at Jomtien Marina Beach, under the supervision of technical director Quqa Zolokovic, who focused on implementing the technical approach to the match while strengthening defensive aspects.
The session concluded with a full-field drill, attended and monitored by the head of the delegation and member of the Board of Directors of the Saudi Arabian Football Federation, Dr. Khalid bin Muqrin, along with Nasser Al-Saadi, Director of the Futsal and Beach Soccer Department.
It's worth noting that three Asian teams will qualify for the Beach Soccer World Cup: the champion, the runner-up, and the winner of the third-place match. The "Green Beach Soccer Team" are looking to achieve a historic achievement by qualifying for the World Cup for the first time in their history.
Separately, the national beach soccer team's Brazilian coach, Koga Zolokovic, expressed his great happiness with the team's qualification to the semi-finals of the AFC Beach Soccer Championship. During a press conference held today, Friday, he emphasized that the next goal is to secure a place in the World Cup finals.
"We are proud to be among the top four teams in Asia, in one of the strongest tournaments on the continent, and we will work hard to continue our journey and achieve our ambitions," Koga Zolokovic said.
"We now have two opportunities to qualify for the World Cup, and we must make the most of them.", he added.
Regarding the semi-final match against Iran, he explained, "We will face a tough match against a strong and organized team that includes professional beach soccer players. We have the utmost respect for them, especially after their outstanding performance in the last World Cup against Brazil. But God willing, we will enter the match with high concentration and aspire to win and qualify for the final."
Concluding his remarks, Kouga thanked the Saudi Arabian Football Federation for their continued support, saying, "We are very happy to have reached this stage. It is a dream come true thanks to the federation's continued support and interest in developing the game."
For his part, national team captain Rabie Sufyani said during the same press conference, "As Saudis, we feel very proud to have qualified for the semi-finals, which is important for us as players."
"Semi-final matches are always subject to special considerations and depend on small details. God willing, we will be on time and take advantage of this opportunity to qualify for the final and the World Cup. We have full confidence in our ability to put on a strong performance.", he added.