Juan Antonio Pizzi hails perfect preparation after South Korea draw

الأنباط -

Al-Anbat-  Having seen his side battle to a 0-0 draw with South Korea on Monday, Saudi Arabia coach Juan Antonio Pizzi said the performance had been the perfect preparation for the upcoming Asian Cup in the UAE.
Pizzi went into the game with Mohammed Al-Owais, Yasser Al-Shahrani and Salem Al-Dosari to call upon, and he made use of his star players in the last friendly before their opening Asian Cup group game against North Korea.
The first half of the game saw a number of Saudi attempts on the Korean goal, but the Green Falcons were unable to break through the resilient defense. 
But Pizzi’s men looked the stronger team at the Baniyas Stadium throughout the game. They managed to restrict the Koreans to eight shots, none of them on target. The Green Falcons also had more of the ball and were the more disciplined of the two teams.
Saudi Arabia got lucky late in the second half when the Koreans missed a penalty kick in the 82nd minute after Ki Song blazed wide from the spot.
After the game, Pizzi was satisfied with the energy levels shown by his team and said the game had been an “interesting encounter between two distinguished teams,” in which both teams “imposed their style on the game.”
Pizzi also confirmed that he took Al-Shahrani off midway through the second half as a precautionary measure, and that the player did not sustain any serious injury and should be fit for the Asian Cup.
Saudi Arabia are in Group E of the Asian Cup with Qatar, Lebanon and North Korea, and will start their bid for glory against the latter at the Maktoum Bin Rashid Stadium.

 

Arabnews