We played as a unit, says Saudi Arabia’s Burayk
DUBAI: Teamwork was the major reason for Saudi Arabia securing their second win in Group E of the Asian Cup, and Mohammed Al Burayk is hoping the Green Falcons maintain their fine form in their bid for a fourth Continental title.
After securing wins against North Korea and Lebanon, Saudi Arabia top Group E with six points and the knockout round is in sight, having failed to make it past the group stage in the past two editions.
Juan Antonio Pizzi’s team defeated North Korea 4-0 on Matchday One and followed that up with a 2-0 triumph over Lebanon on Saturday.
“Just as we did in the previous match, we played as a unit, with one heart as we want to go as far as possible in this tournament,” Burayk said after beating Lebanon at the Al Maktoum Stadium on Saturday.
“We always want to do better, and hopefully we can work hard and follow the coach’s instructions to get even better.”
Saudi Arabia will face Qatar in their final group match on Thursday and the Al Hilal defender is hoping their travelling fans continue showing their support in the team’s quest to end their group campaign with a perfect record.
“There are not enough words to thank our fans who have been behind us in our two matches. We hope to see them at the next match against Qatar and most importantly, in the Round of 16 too.”
I’ve said it before, we are taking it one game at a time. We have a really important match against Qatar, and we want to take the three points and finish with a perfect record. After that, we can think about the Round of 16 match.
“Of course, when you finish top of the group, you are more confident and that gives you an advantage.
“There are no teams I prefer to face (in the knockout stage). If you want to win the title, you need to beat every team in your way. I don’t consider any team to be average; any team that made it this far is a strong opponent.”
PIZZI HAILS BAHBRI
Saudi coach has hailed Hatan Bahbri for his display in their 2-0 win against Lebanon.
Fahad Almuwallad opened the scoring at the Al Maktoum Stadium in the 12th minute to give Saudi Arabia an early lead, before Hussain Almoqahwi sealed their convincing victory with his 67th minute sliding effort, courtesy of Bahbri’s pinpoint delivery into the box.
Hatan (Bahbri), he is actually doing very, very well at a very good level,” Pizzi said of the Al Shabab player.
“He was not with us for the first training camp due to injury, but joined us for the second, where he showed dedication, concentration and effort.”
Bahbri scored his first international goal for the Green Falcons in their group opener against North Korea, firing in a superb strike to put Saudi Arabia in front before subsequent goals from Mohammed Al Fatil, Salem Aldawsari and Almuwallad secured them a 4-0 win.
“He is a player you would like to have in your team because of his qualities, but I hope he will not be relaxed at the level he has reached because he can reach further than this.
“He has many chances to be better. I wouldn’t say he’s the best, but he is definitely one of our best players.”
Meanwhile, the loss for Lebanon was their second in two games and they now face a must-win match against North Korea on Thursday to stand a chance of reaching the knockout stage as one of the best four third-placed teams.
Head coach Miodrag Radulovic praised Saudi Arabia for the win but rued his side’s missed opportunities.
“I want to congratulate Saudi Arabia for the victory, they deserved to win, but also, I’m a little bit disappointed with losing two clean chances in the first half. When you don’t score, you can’t achieve a positive result,” said Radulovic.
“We didn’t use our chances, my players should learn from these games but I’m not disappointed with their performance, just on missing the two chances.
“For my team now, it’s very important to have a good rest and recover, and to try to win the last game. I think it will be enough to (reach) the next round.”