Osama Haswai is confident Saudi Arabia will have what it takes to get the better of Qatar when the two sides meet in the Gulf Cup of Nations final on Wednesday night.
The countries played the opening game of the tournament 12 days ago in Riyadh at the King Fahd International Stadium and they meet again there to close the tournament.
That opening match ended in a 1-1 draw, but Haswai, the Saudi defender, said: “It will be a special game against Qatar, it’s always a special game whenever we play against them.
“The final will be a very different, not like the first game.
“It will be very important for the team and the fans to win the trophy on home soil especially before the Asian Cup it will give us more motivation.”
The hosts, who won the most recent of their three Gulf Cups in 2003, had a scare in the semi-finals.
After taking a 2-0 lead against the UAE, they allowed Mahdi Ali’s side to get back on level terms, before they knocked out the defending champions 3-2 thanks to Salem Al Dawsari’s goal four minutes from time.
Juan Ramon Lopez Caro, the Saudi coach, acknowledged his side had been fortunate to survive their UAE test.
“In football there are many aspects of the match that you cannot have completely under control,” the Spaniard said.
“Especially if you take the lead there will be a drop in intensity, and sometimes you lose concentration and defensive solidity.
“This meant we suffered at the end of the match.
“We possessed all the capabilities to achieve victory, but implementing them sometimes depends on [the] physical, psychological and technical conditions of the players.”
Reaching the final, Caro said, has been the culmination of a sustained period of hard work and improvement from the side, who have won their past three games since drawing with Qatar.
“From the beginning our targets were clear,” Caro said. “To produce an organised defensive unit and then improve the mentality of the team so they can have a distinct identity.
“We are always looking to get positive results to strengthen the team’s competitiveness and we always try to pick the best team and prepare them, but ultimately the players performances is the biggest factor in football. Our team have developed clear discipline and mental strength.”
Caro was careful not to predict too much before the final and was more concerned about conditioning his players.
“The time between the matches will be very short,” he said. “The players exerted a huge effort, not just today but from the very first match.
“We will look to have the players in shape, we will study the opposition and then we will take the decisions that will be right ones for the team.”
akhaled@thenational.ae
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