Saudi Arabia are under no illusions about the fact that they must beat North Korea today to stand any realistic chance of making the Asian Cup quarter-finals, according to under-pressure coach Cosmin Olaroiu.
The Green Falcons fell to a 1-0 defeat in their opening Group B fixture against China and need to rebound against the World Cup 2010 finalists in Melbourne.
Another loss, combined with a draw between the Chinese and Uzbekistan, would cause a repeat of 2011’s disastrous early elimination.
“After the first game in the group we know what we need to do exactly, we have only one way and it is very important to win the game,” said on-loan Al Ahli boss Olaroiu. “We have tried to motivate the players that they still have a chance.
“We had the first game in our hands and had a chance to close the game and win and how we lost was unfortunate.”
The Saudis will be without 2015 Asian Footballer of the Year Nasser Al Shamrani, with the controversial striker ruled out of the tournament by an unspecified injury.
Meanwhile, China defender Zhang Lin-peng is confident of getting the result in the top-of-the-table clash against Uzbekistan which will see his nation return to the last-eight of the Asian Cup for the first time in more than a decade.
Alain Perrin’s men are full of confidence after the victory against the Saudis. Their last trip to the quarter-finals was in 2004 on home soil, however, and they now face opponents they have not beaten in three previous meetings.
“We also played Uzbekistan at the last Asian Cup and that was a strong team,” said Zhang. “They had very good players – experienced players.
“We haven’t qualified for the knockout stage for 10 years but now we have a very good chance.”
