MUSCAT, Nov 29 - Bahrain will hope to increase their tally to four points when they will take on Saudi Arabia in a thriller of a match in Group B of the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium on Saturday. Saudi Arabia, on the other hand will enter this match with a do-or-die mindset as the they are looking for their first win to keep their hopes alive in their second match of the Arabian Gulf Cup after their 3-1 defeat by Kuwait. The match will start at 9.00 pm (Oman time). Bahrain team technical manager Helio Sousa and Saudi Arabia manager Herve Renard spoke about the importance of this game in the pre-match press conference on Friday at the media centre in Doha.
“It will be a tough game between the two teams as both of the teams are looking to win to move further in this tournament,” Sousa said. “All the teams in the group still have chances to qualify into the next phase. We may have a slight advantage in points but Saudi team is a strong team in the region and has top quality players,” the Portuguese man added. “Saudi’s game against Kuwait was an early game for them match with absence of many players. However, they performed well in the match. Definitely, they will do their best in the match. However, we are prepared well and looking for better performance than the Oman game,” Sousa ended.
Saudi coach Herve Renard, said the team has not had the best preparation for this tournament. “ We are facing an absence issue of many players in the squad due to their club’s participation in the league and Asian league champions. Some players arrived recently and they could not take part in the first game,” Renard added. The French coach stated the team will show a different technical style in its match against Bahrain. “It is crucial for us to win the game. We have to win if we want to continue in the tournament,” Saudi coach concluded.
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