Vietnam's opponents brought players for the 2022 World Cup to ASIAD
Asiri is a national player for the 2022 World Cup. He was introduced to the field at the end of the 2-1 win over Argentina in the group stage. Asiri is also the team's most expensive player when valued by transfer statistics site Transfermakt at 525,000 USD, equivalent to 13 billion VND.
The striker born in 2001 currently plays for Al Hilal, but does not have many opportunities to play because of the wave of world stars coming to the national championship - Saudi Pro League. Asiri has not played any matches this season due to difficulty competing with the trio of Riyad Mahrez, Roberto Firmino and Allan Saint-Maximin.
Last year, Asiri was a key factor in helping Saudi Arabia win the 2022 Asian U23 Championship for the first time, including a 2-0 win over Vietnam in the quarterfinals. Six other players present in that match also attended ASIAD 19, including goalkeeper Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi, defender Meshal Al-Sebyani, midfielders Awad Al-Nashri, Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, strikers Abdullah Radif and Mohammed Mara.
The 22 Saudi Arabian players participating in ASIAD 19 all play domestically and are part of the squad that qualified for the 2024 U23 Asian qualifiers. This West Asian country does not use over-age players, considering this an opportunity to train towards the qualifying round. Next year's final will compete for tickets to the 2024 Paris Olympics.
Saudi Arabia's coach attending ASIAD 19 is Saad Al-Shehri, who has been in charge of the country's U23 team since 2018 and promotes ball control play thanks to technical and speedy players. In addition to Asiri, the team currently has notable faces such as midfielder Awad Al-Nashri, Musab Al-Juwayr or striker Mohammed Maran - teammate of superstar Cristiano Ronaldo at Al Nassr.
Saudi Arabia will play the opening match of Group B ASIAD 19 against strong opponent Iran on September 19, then meet Mongolia - the team they won 3-1 in the 2024 Asian U23 qualifiers, before playing Vietnam in the final round. .
Since the beginning of 2023, Saudi Arabia has played many friendly matches to prepare for ASIAD 19. In which, they drew six matches, against Thailand 2-2, Kuwait 0-0, Qatar 0-0, France 2-2, Venezuela 0-0, Costa Rica 0-0, then lost to Ivory Coast 1-3.
Goalkeepers (3): Abdulrahman Al-Sanbi (Al Ahli), Ahmed Al-Jubaya (Al Qadsiah), Mohammed Al-Absi (Al Shabab)
Defenders (6): Meshal Al-Sebyani (Al Faisaly), Rayan Hamed (Al Ahli), Nawaf Al-Mutairi (Al Orobah), Saad Al-Musa (Al Ettifaq), Hussein Al-Sebyani (Al Shabab), Zakaria Hawsawi (Al Ittihad)
Midfielders (10): Mohammed Abu Al-Shamat, Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, Naif Masoud (Al Qadsiah), Mohammed Al-Yami (Al Shabab), Awad Al-Nashri, Faisal Al-Ghamdi (Al Ittihad), Abdulmalik Al -Oyayari, Saad Al-Nasser (Al Taawoun), Musab Al-Juwayr (Al Hilal), Ahmed Al-Ghamdi (Al Ettifaq)
Strikers (3): Haitham Asiri (Al Ahli), Abdullah Radif (Al Shabab), Mohammed Maran (Al Nassr).
