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ABU DHABI (AFP) – After qualifying for the 2019 Asian Cup, the 16th round of the UAE tournament will see them retire at the start of the playoffs, face to face with Japan and the 39, Saudi Arabia.
The two teams will meet on Monday at the Sharjah stadium, in a match different from that of the first round, where the foul is prohibited by the "Green Hawks" and "Samurai Blue" in order to avoid an early exit.
Both teams have seven titles in the continental championship (four for Japan, three for Saudi Arabia and the last in 1996) out of 16 and are among the best players on the continent.
Saudi Arabia, led by Argentine Juan Antonio Pietzi, made a promising start in the current tournament, with a team without a free spear. The coach, who led Chile to Copa America 2016 on the three midfielders Salem Al Dosari, Fahd Al-Muhlad and Hattan Bahbury, before stumbling at the end of the first round (0-2) against a Qatari generation including Akram Afif and Maaz Ali, forced him to face Japan in second place. Group V.
The defeat came after beating North Korea 4-0 and Lebanon 2-0.
For its part, Japan broke Group F's record and led it after an unconvincing and lucky victory over Turkmenistan 3-2, Oman 1-0, Uzbekistan 2-1.
The positive factor of Hagimi Moribado's attack-driven range is the availability of a reserve capable of compensating for any absence in the starting lineup, the last match of the group stage competing in a combination completely. different, which suggests that Japan is trying to save its efforts for the playoffs. Which will appear from the Saudi match.
This will be the sixth meeting between the teams of the Asian Championship, losing three times Saudi Arabia (zero -1 in the final of 1992, 1-4 in the first edition of the 2000 version and zero -1 in the final, and zero -5 in the first round of the 2011 release). In semifinal of 2007 with a score of 3-2.
– "New phase" –
With a disappointing outing of the 2015 Australian series, Betzee is looking to turn the disappointing 2018 World Cup qualifying page into a first-round loss after two losses and an orphan victory.
The Argentine coach has to focus on defense against the role of the 16-he wants to move to the quarter-finals, he said after the match, Qatar. "I'm thinking of the confrontation with Japan, we need to start a new phase in the next game, we're ready like Japan and any other qualified team, in the second round."
"This was not supposed to show the line of defense that way (in front of Qatar), but I confirm that defense was not the only problem."
Bitzi, who lost Salman Al-Faraj and Abdullah Al-Khibri one day before the start of the tournament due to an injury, is expected to bring back Ybader Al Shahrani, injured in the match against North Korea, replaced by Hamdan al-Shamrani.
Japan is based on a group of talents such as veteran Yugo Nagatomo, Hiroki Sakai, Yuya Osako and Yoshinori Mutu. The experience of the leader Maya Yoshida will be necessary given the dependence of the team vis-à-vis the young element.
The Southampton English player, Yoshida, has been a regular player since 2010 and she badumes a strong responsibility for coach Moribado, who has not lost Japan for eight games.
Moribado replaced Akira Nishino after the Russian World Cup, where the team was close to the quarter-finals before losing to a goal that kills. The team is also looking to catch up on the quarter-finals of the previous shootout of the Asian Championship in front of the UAE.
Moribado pointed out that his team was hoping to win the title, saying it "should perform better in attack as well as in defense."
"I have not yet followed closely the Saudi team, but I will certainly do it before confronting it," said Japan's third Asian coach after the International Federation, after Iran and Japan. l & # 39; Australia.
"I hope that players will recover first physically to make tactical preparations during preparations and prepare for the best team in Asia."
"The players demanded the best result in the match against Saudi Arabia, despite the circumstances that put us in a fierce battle in terms of experience and strength in front of this team."
The winner of the Saudi-Japanese match will face the winner of the Jordan-Vietnam match Sunday in the quarterfinals on Thursday.
Port-au-Prince / Cam / Cape
© 2019 AFP
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