Saudi Arabia coach: 'Australia collapsed under our pressure'
"Today's opponents are very strong, but we keep pressing at a high position, causing a lot of difficulties, and then letting Australia collapse," the Saudi coach said at the press conference after the game at Pakhtakol Stadium.
In the first semi-final of the game, Saudi Arabia slowly entered the game and repelled some fastballs from Australia. The representative of West Asia then opened the record in the 21st minute with an orderly coordination stage. Forward al-Buraikan holds the ball down the left and goes down to the bottom of the touchline before returning 16 and 50 for Hussein al-Eisa to complete the touch.
In the 39th minute, Australian midfielder Jay Richie-Bagulu got a red card for foul on Ayman Yahya, which helped Saudi Arabia control the game. The advantage and playing time exceeded people. They created plenty of chances before concretizing their advantage in the 72nd minute with a second goal when second-string Yahya finished after Albrechan stretched down the left.
"I am not too happy to win, but just satisfied with the football team performed. I want to thank the players because they have strictly complied with the legal training committee before the battle," Al-sehri said next.
The whole match, Saudi Arabia just let Australia finish six times. In particular, once the ball went to the goal - a penalty kick of Ramy Najjarine, was blocked by goalkeeper Al -Shammari in the ninth minute of the second half. Another time the ball went to Saudi Arabia crossbar from Captain Tyrese Francois in the 31th minute Get any goals for five matches that fought on Uzbekistan this year.
"We only try to defend the highest focus as possible. And that effort is paid off, with the support from St. Allah," the 42 -year -old coach answered when asked about the secret to keeping a clean sheet.
The victory over Australia took Saudi Arabia for the third time in the U23 Asian final. And they desire to change their fortunes, after they all lost 0-1 at the hands of Iraq in 2013, then Korea in 2020. "Now we will look forward to the final and will try the highest to win this match ", Al-sehri added. On May 19, Saudi Arabia will play host Uzbekistan - a 2-0 Japanese winning team in the second semi -final.
Meanwhile, coach Trevor Morgan was disappointed with the way Australia lost. The military leader said that the turning point of the match was the red card of the center-back Rich-Baghuelou. "The score today does not reflect exactly what the two teams perform. Australia is not worth losing like that," he said.
The 0-2 defeat makes Australia unable to go further than the semi-finals in the Asian U23 tournament. The goal for them is now holding the third place in the end like the 2020 tournament in Thailand - where they won Uzbekistan 1-0 in the bronze match.
