AFC
Doha: Saad Al Shehri will leave no stone unturned in Saudi Arabia's bid to start their AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024™ campaign on the right foot when they take on Tajikistan in Group C on Tuesday.
Al Shehri, who led Saudi Arabia to the AFC U23 Asian Cup Uzbekistan 2022 title, is determined his side gets off to a perfect start in a tournament which also serves as the Paris Olympics qualifier.
“The Saudi team is ready for the task ahead. Hopefully, we can have a fruitful campaign that takes us to the Paris Olympics,” said Al Shehri.
“Maybe the previous tournament was more difficult because the ultimate aim was to win the cup. For this edition, there are three positions that can take you to the Olympics."
“We approach this as a new one. Yes, there are players who participated previously but we also have a new generation who have to make their mark.
“We hope to start on the right foot against Tajikistan because for Saudi teams, when we start the right way, we tend to finish well.”
As for Tajikistan head coach Mubin Ergashev, having a large number of players in the squad who are also part of the senior side has its own challenges.
While the likes of Alisher Shukurov and Rustam Soirov bring the element of experience to the team, it also meant that Ergashev has less time to work with the entire squad as a whole.
“We’re happy to qualify for the second time in this competition,” said Ergashev. “In our group, there are no weak teams but it is my desire to win in these matches.
“Among the challenges was that we had players away with the senior national team who played in World Cup qualifications, we also had some injured players. However, we hope to put on a strong showing.”
Saudi Arabia v Tajikistan
Venue: Khalifa International Stadium (Doha)
Kick-off: Tuesday, 21:00 (UTC+3)