Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Isa Town: Saudi Arabia coach Saad Al Shehri will seek to refocus his team on attempting to lift the AFC U-19 Championship Bahrain 2016 title after seeing off Iraq in a penalty shootout on Sunday evening to book his side’s place in the finals of next year’s FIFA U-20 World Cup in Korea Republic.
Goalkeeper Amin Al Bukhari saved twice in the shootout as the Saudis won 6-5 following a 2-2 draw after 120 minutes of normal and extra-time could not separate the sides and Al Shehri secured the country’s first qualification for the world championship since 2011.
“It was a good game, as we expected before kick-off,” said Al Shehri. “It was tough and there were some things we were focusing on in defence and in attack. We couldn’t win in 90 minutes and it went to penalties but we’re all happy after the shootout.
“Our goal before the start of the tournament was to go step-by-step, to qualify for this round, then to qualify for the FIFA U-20 World Cup and now this has happened. Now we have to focus more on winning this championship.
“We have a good team and it will be good for Saudi Arabia for us to come back to the top of Asia and to be one of the continent’s best youth teams.”