Not just the Nations League. In these days of break from the various championships, the qualifications for the World Cup are also at stake and among the national teams involved there is also theSaudi Arabiacoached by the former Italy coach Roberto Mancini. In the press conference held in view of today’s match against Bahrain, the coach underlined the need for mental preparation to recover from the defeat suffered against Japan.
Even if of pitfalls and difficulties there will be some in today’s match in Jeddah, as also specified by Mancini himself: “I think it’s the same thing I said before: all matches are difficult. Tomorrow’s match (today, ed.) is crucial and difficult. Bahrain looked physically strong against Indonesia and I hope we will put in a positive performance, like we did against Japan despite the defeat.”
But i Green Hawks they can’t get caught up in the tension: “We are mentally prepared. We are trying to compensate for the defeat against Japan. Psychological support is very important and we are grateful to Prince Abdulaziz Al-Faisal, Minister of Sports, and Yasser Al-Misehal, President of the Saudi Football Federation, for their constant motivation.”
However, Mancini took a step back, to remember the reaction of the locker room to the defeat against Japan: “All the players were frustrated when the fans left during the match against Japan, and we were not satisfied with the result. Everyone expects a lot from us and we have to make the fans happy. We will try to do that against Bahrain and get a victory.”