Tue, 30 Nov, -0001
Three-time AFC Asian Cup champions Saudi Arabia begin the post-Frank Rijkaard era against China on Wednesday as new Spanish coach Juan Ramon Lopez Caro seeks to make a positive start to the qualifying campaign for Australia 2015 in Dammam.
Having been appointed in July 2011, Rijkaard's contract was terminated last month after Saudi Arabia failed to advance past the Group Stage of the 2013 Gulf Cup following their earlier exit from 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
And former Real Madrid coach Lopez Caro has quickly moved to make his mark of the team ahead of the Group C opener with former AFC Player of the Year Yasser Al Qahtani the highest profile omission from the squad.
"I respect all the players who were not called for the national team, but I believe we are in a new period and we need new names," said Lopez Caro.
"I know all the capabilities of the players as I was working with all the national teams of Saudi Arabia last year and I'm fully confident that the players that we have selected will be able to beat China in the first match of the Asian Cup qualifiers on Wednesday."
Saudi Arabia, who stepped up their preparations with a 3-0 win over Saudi League side Al Ettifaq, will also be without midfielder Ibrahim Ghaleb due to an ankle injury.
Jose Antonio Camacho's injury hit China, meanwhile, head into the contest having lost 1-0 to Oman last Wednesday following a training camp in Spain.
Camacho is set to be without Guangzhou Evergrande defenders Zhang Linpeng and Feng Xiaoting and Shandong Luneng midfielder Hao Junmin at Prince Mohammed bin Fahad Stadium as China look to get back on track themselves having also missed out on the final round of qualifiers for Brazil 2014.
"Saudi Arabia has new players and a new coach following the Gulf Cup. The pressure is not on us but them as they are playing at home. We also must remember that there are six games in the entire qualification stage," said China coach Camacho, who is also a former coach of Spanish side Real Madrid.
"This is a very important match for the national team and I wish I had a full squad available. I had hoped Zhang Linpeng and Feng Xiaoting would be able to play but the absence of three players, including Hao Junmin, is a shame for me.
"It is not always possible to have every player available at the same time, but we are not short of quality for this particular match and I am quite confident in the team."
Also in Group C, Iraq will look to recover from their Gulf Cup final heartache as the 2007 AFC Asian Cup champions begin their campaign against Indonesia in Dubai.
Iraq lost last month's Gulf Cup final against the United Arab Emirates after extra-time, but head into the contest on the back of a 3-0 win over Malaysia on Friday which was secured thanks to a double from 2012 AFC Youth Player of the Year Mohanad Abdulraheem.
"We used the match against Malaysia in order to obtain a good idea about some of the players we fielded in the match. Even though it was a friendly match, we had a lot of targets and it was the final preparation for the match against Indonesia," said Iraq coach Hakim Shaker.
"Indonesia lost recently against Jordan but this doesn't mean that it will be an easy match for us. The match on Wednesday is the start for our campaign in the qualifiers and I hope we can get a positive result."
Having lost 5-0 to Jordan on Thursday, Indonesia will be hoping for a better start to the 2015 qualifying campaign after the 2007 co-hosts failed to secure a place at the last AFC Asian Cup in Qatar.