Lebanon clash with Yemen in last match

Abdel Kader Saad

Lebanon will play its last match of the West Asian Championship in Iraq, when the Yemeni team will meet today at 19:30, Beirut time. A new opportunity for the coaching staff to give the opportunity to more players.

The new Lebanese coach, Livio Cheboutariu, has so far involved 20 of the 23 players. Both goalkeepers Mustapha Matar and Ali Daher, as well as striker Ali Aladdin, are the only ones who have not played yet. This could change today because the Romanian coach should give them a chance to qualify for the last time in the regional championship. The Lebanese team has already played three games against Iraq (0-1), against Syria (2-1) and tied with Palestine (0-0). The Lebanese national team performed well and was well received by a large part of the Lebanese public. "Al Akhbar" has spoken with the captain of the Lebanese national team and former technical director Youssef Mohammed "Dodo" about the national team in its regional participation. Captain Dodo is very satisfied with the Lebanese experience, new faces young people who joined the team and had their chance. "There is no doubt that the tournament of coach Chubutario is to try, and therefore to involve the greatest number of players, and it is very good and positive," said Youssef Mohammed to "News ".

In terms of performance, Dodo agrees with many of them that the Lebanese team is doing well. There is no doubt that Mohammed's technical opinion is based on a long experience and an artistic vision different from that of the public. Many have long criticized defensiveness, but every coach has his vision and strategy. Perhaps the nature of the tournament and the lack of professionals have allowed the coach Chiubutario to play an offensive trend. I speak in the language of the public, but my opinion on the previous step is that the choices were correct most of the time, which allowed Lebanon to progress in the ranking and succeed in being in the second group at of the draw. Former coach Miodrag Radulovic did a good job, he had his own strategy and the current coach Levio Chiubtario also has his own philosophy, adds Captain Dodo.
For new players who participated for the first time, including those who drew the attention of the former captain, Mohammed said: "I've always thought that the presence of defender Hussein Zein was good, and his participation and performance matched my expectations. Al-Zain was outstanding during his first appearance in the national team, and this is not easy. "Al-Zain showed that he had a lot to offer to the team."

Dodo does not stop at Zein. He sees Hussein Munther and Yahya Al Hindi as having everything they have in their infancy, but they still need more opportunities. "I hope that Ahmed Hijazi and Ali Aladdin will have a greater chance."
Regarding the draw for the 2022 World Cup and the 2023 Asian qualifiers and Lebanon's chances of qualifying for the World Cup final, Dodo estimates that Lebanon has a large group of 30 players, not only 23. "It's positive, especially considering the long course and the potential for injury. The existing group is able to go far and even lead the group. Their presence must be exploited: after six years, most of these players will have retired and it is difficult to find such a group. We can beat South Korea in Beirut. We have to trust our abilities and think first, not just call ourselves second, "said Mohamed.

Chebutario warns against Yemeni defense
Coach Livio Chiobotario called the Yemeni team "brave and diligent, and we have to manage these attributes as appropriate," and cautioned against "strong defensive interest and confidence in backtracking," he said. "On the other hand, we are supposed to finish our games in this group, a field interaction and appropriate action are the guarantee, and they are beneficial to the players and their morale." Lebanese coach stressed that what was needed, in the face of Palestine, was to confirm "what we presented in the first two games, especially as everyone was interacting with our performance, our valued defense organization and our good acquisition, "always demanding" the division of tasks and the management of optimum effort and constant attention ".
According to Chubutario, in modern football and paperwork, the difference of investing in the available skills and abilities, to impose personality and design consistently remains very narrow, providing solutions facilitating the removal of the pressure and obstacles and fast food the initiative.