Italian Roberto Mancini is going through his first test since his appointment as coach of the Saudi national football team, after his resignation from coaching the “Squadra Azzurri”, who won the European Cup with him, in a friendly match against Costa Rica on Friday at St. James’ Park in Newcastle, England.
After assuming the technical duties of Al-Akhdar, Mancini said: I made history in Europe and now I have come to make history in Saudi Arabia.
Al-Akhdar is currently holding a camp in Newcastle that will last until the 12th of this month, during which he will play a second friendly against South Korea next Tuesday during the international window.
The Saudi national team is preparing for the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, which will start next November, and the Asian Cup finals, which will be held in Qatar between January 12 and February 10.
Saudi Arabia plays in Group Six, which includes Oman, Kyrgyzstan and Thailand.
Mancini summoned 26 players to the current camp, most of them from the elements that participated in the World Cup in Qatar last year, most notably Muhammad Al-Owais, Abdullah Al-Omari, Ali Al-Bulayhi, Sultan Al-Ghanam, Hassan Timbukti, Yasser Al-Shahrani, Saud Abdul-Hamid, Muhammad Kno, Abdullah Al-Khaibri, Salem Al-Dosari and Firas Al-Buraikan.
The Italian coach also included new names in the list, such as Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Ali Hazazi, Raghed Al-Najjar and Fahd Al-Rashidi.
The Saudi and Costa Rican teams met four times, all of which were overshadowed by the friendly nature, as Al-Akhdar won once and suffered three defeats. He scored 5 goals and conceded 8.
