Saudis crash out
Saudi Arabia were sent crashing out of the Asian Cup following defeat to
Jordan at Al Rayyan Stadium.
Baha Suleiman scored the only goal of the game three minutes before the
break to secure Jordan's first win in Group B and condemn the Saudis to a second
successive defeat that will see them heading home early.
Jordan have four points with Syria - who play Japan later - on three.
The Saudis' short time at the tournament has been tumultuous, and following
their opening game defeat to Syria they made the decision to sack Jose Peseiro
and replace him with Nassir Al Johar.
They were the better side in this match for the first quarter of an hour and
were the first to threaten after 16 minutes when Mohammed Al Shalhoub's cross
from the right was headed goalwards by Naif Hazazi, but Amer Shafi reacted
quickly to save the ball.
The Saudis continued to press and should have opened the scoring in the 19th
minute but Hazazi's powerful shot from outside the area flew over the crossbar.
Jordan created their first chance in the 21st minute when skipper Basher Bani
Yaseen shot straight at keeper Waleed Abdullah, but the game belonged to the
Saudis who were dominating the midfield.
However, the Jordanians stunned their opponents in the 42nd minute when
Baha Suleiman delivered a cross from outside the area but Abdullah misjudged the
direction of the ball and it sailed beyond the shotstopper and into the net.
It could have been 2-0 seconds before the break when Odai Al Saify went
one-on-one with Abdullah but the Saudi keeper did well to save the ball.
The Saudis came out fighting in the second half but were still finding clear
cut chances hard to come by.
They failed to really threaten again until 15 minutes from time when Taiseer Al
Jassam dribbled the ball into the area after exchanging passes with Nassier Al
Shamrani, but Jordan keeper Amer Shafi reacted quickly to rush out and save the
ball.
The Green Falcons continued to dominate and, when five minutes of stoppage time
was shown by the fourth official, it seemed certain they were to snatch a late
equaliser, but Jordan held firm to defend their slender lead to the final
whistle.
Saudi Arabia coach Nasser Al Johor insisted his side's premature exit from the Asian Cup was down to simple bad luck.
Having lost their opening Group B game to Syria 2-1 - a result that cost previous boss Jose Peseiro his job - defeat to the Jordanians saw their continental campaign come to an early end.
"The performance of the players was good tonight," Al Johor said. "But in the two games that we played, we were not lucky, and tonight we played a good game and we had chances but we didn't take advantage of our superiority.
"Jordan were lucky today as the goal that we conceded went in by luck because the ball was meant to be a cross. If we were bad, we could have conceded two or three goals but we were the better side in the game."
Despite the fortuitous nature of the winner, coach Adnan Hamad still felt his side were worthy winners as they closed in on a quarter-final place.
"I respect coach Nasser Al Johar and I believe Saudi Arabia are a big team," he said. "To win against Saudi Arabia is a big achievement and in football there are things that happen and that you can't control.
"We played with good tactical discipline and Saudi Arabia didn't have a lot of scoring chances. We could have scored another goal from the quick counter attacks that we had and I believe that our team deserved to win.
"The game was hard for us as it was against a hard team. Saudi Arabia went into the game with only one option, to win after losing the first game against Syria.
"I want to thank the players for the great game they showed despite being under big pressure. We still have a lot of work to do although our ambitions are big now and hopefully we can carry on in the tournament as far as possible."