Cho Gyu-seong scored the first goal against Saudi Arabia.

Saudi Arabia’s head coach predicted that it would be a difficult match for Klinsmann and Saudi Arabia in the round of 16 of the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Asian Cup.

Saudi Arabia drew 0-0 with Thailand in the third match of the Group F match held at the Education City Stadium in Al Rayyan, Qatar on the 26th (Korean time).

Saudi Arabia, with 2 wins and 1 draw (7 points), passed the group stage in first place, beating Thailand (1 win, 2 draws, 5 points).

As a result, Saudi Arabia will compete with Korea, which finished second in Group E, to advance to the quarterfinals. The match between the two teams will take place at Education City Stadium at 1 a.m. on the 31st.

Saudi Arabia, led by Italian coach Roberto Mancini, faced a difficult opponent in Korea from the first edition of the tournament.

Currently, Korea is 23rd and Saudi Arabia is 56th in the FIFA rankings. In terms of overall record, they have met 18 times and are in a tight battle with 5 wins, 8 draws, and 5 losses.

The most recent match was a friendly match held in Newcastle, England in September last year, where Korea won 1-0 with Cho Gyu-seong (Midtjylland)’s winning goal. Coach Klinsmann, who had been undefeated for 5 consecutive games (3 draws, 2 losses) since his appointment, achieved his first win through this game.

Son Heung-min of the Korean national soccer team speaks with Hwang Hee-chan after scoring a penalty kick in the 3rd match between Korea and Malaysia in the 2023 Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Qatar Asian Cup group stage held at Al Janoub Stadium in Al Wakrah, Qatar on the 25th (local time).

Coach Mancini, who led Italy to victory at Euro 2020 (European Football Championship), predicted that the game against Korea would be a difficult game.

He pointed out that many Korean players, including Son Heung-min (Tottenham) and Kim Min-jae (Bayern Munich), are in the best leagues in Europe and said, “(Korea is) a very good team.”

“We know that the game against Korea will be a very difficult game,” Mancini said, adding, “It will be the same for them as well as for us.”

However, Coach Mancini also expressed confidence in winning the Korean game. He expressed his faith in his players, saying, “Anything can happen.”

The winner of the Korea-Saudi match is likely to meet Australia in the quarterfinals. If they make it to the finals, they are expected to face other championship candidates such as Japan, Iran, and Qatar.

Coach Mancini said, “To win this competition, we have to compete with the best teams,” and encouraged, “We have to win against Japan, Korea, and Australia to ultimately win the championship.” 스포츠토토맨