Mancini warns Saudis against Japan-type Asian Cup shock

Mancini´s team is ranked 56th in the world and is one of the contenders for the title

By AFP

January 21, 2024

Saudi Arabia national football teams head coach Roberto Mancini can be seen in this image. — AFP/File — Saudi Arabia national football team's head coach Roberto Mancini can be seen in this image. — AFP/File

DOHA: Roberto Mancini warned Saudi Arabia against falling victim to the kind of Asian Cup shock suffered by favourites Japan when his side face Kyrgyzstan on Sunday.

Saudi Arabia fought back to beat Oman 2-1 in stoppage time in their opening match in Qatar and can seal their place in the knockout rounds.

Mancini´s team are ranked 56th in the world and are one of the contenders for the title. Kyrgyzstan are 98th and lost 2-0 to Thailand to start their Asian Cup.

But a strongly-fancied Japan fell 2-1 to lower-ranked Iraq on Friday and the Italian coach Mancini said that should serve as a warning.

“Kyrgyzstan are a very good team. You know what happened yesterday with Japan against Iraq -- nobody thought Iraq can beat Japan,” he said on Saturday.

“If you want to win you need to keep good concentration. “What we did in the first match is in the past. This match will be very difficult.”