THE SKY’S THE LIMIT FOR SAUDI ARABIA, SAYS ATAWI

BEKASI: Saudi Arabia head coach Khalid Abdullah Atawi has declared there is no limit to what his team is capable of after they secured a place in the AFC U-19 Championship Indonesia 2018 semi-finals, and FIFA U-20 World Cup qualiication, with a 3-1 win against Australia on Monday.

The 41-year-old rated the performance as Saudi Arabia’s best in the competition so far, and revealed his belief that there is more to come.

“We are trying to do our best in every game,” he said. “In any game, we want to do more than the game before.

“In this competition, the team is improving from game to game, so we are looking forward to achieving the highest level we can. The sky is our limit.”

Saudi Arabia have reached the FIFA U-20 World Cup on eight previous occasions, with a pair of appearances in the Round of 16 representing the high watermark of their achievement in the competition.

While remaining focused on delivering a third AFC U-19 Championship in the coming week, Atawi said he hopes for a strong showing at the global finals in Poland next year.

Goals to Turki Al Ammar, Feras Al Brikan and Saudi Abdulhamid carried the Young Green Falcons to their second successive final four appearance and continued their perfect winning run in the tournament

Not for the first time, Al Ammar played a key role in the victory, producing another standout display to further press his case as among the competition’s biggest revelations.

Atawi acknowledged the quality of the talented youngster’s performance, but insists he is one of many talented players in the Young Green Falcons squad.

“Turki is one of 23 players and I treat them all equally, but I think he will be a star in the future,” said Atawi. “I hope, and I can guarantee that we will see more stars come from these 23 players in the future.”

Saudi Arabia will face Japan in a blockbuster AFC U-19 Championship semi-final on Thursday, with the winners to meet either Qatar or Korea Republic on Sunday.