Dubai: Saudi Arabia head coach Juan Antonio Pizzi has hailed Hatan Bahbri for his display in their 2-0 win against Lebanon in an AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Group E tie on Saturday.
Fahad Almuwallad opened the scoring at the Al Maktoum Stadium in the 12th minute to give Saudi Arabia an early lead, before Hussain Almoqahwi sealed their convincing victory with his 67th minute sliding effort, courtesy of Bahbri’s pinpoint delivery into the box.
“Hatan (Bahbri), he is actually doing very, very well at a very good level,” Pizzi said of the Al Shabab player.
“He was not with us for the first training camp due to injury, but joined us for the second, where he showed dedication, concentration and effort.”
Bahbri scored his first international goal for the Green Falcons in their group opener against DPR Korea, firing in a superb strike to put Saudi Arabia in front before subsequent goals from Mohammed Al Fatil, Salem Aldawsari and Almuwallad secured them a 4-0 win.
Match Highlights - January 12
“He is a player you would like to have in your team because of his qualities, but I hope he will not be relaxed at the level he has reached because he can reach further than this.
“He has many chances to be better. I wouldn’t say he’s the best, but he is definitely one of our best players.”
Pizzi also praised the rest of his players for the well-deserved victory that places them on top of the standings with six points, with qualification to the knockout stage sealed if DPR Korea fail to secure a victory against Qatar on Sunday.
“The players committed to the tactics and strategy,” Pizzi said.
“Individually, each player did their job perfectly. I’m very happy with their performance and the result.”
Meanwhile, the loss for Lebanon was their second in two games and they now face a must-win match against DPR Korea on Thursday to stand a chance of reaching the knockout stage as one of the best four third-placed teams.
Head coach Miodrag Radulovic praised Saudi Arabia for the win but rued his side’s missed opportunities.
“I want to congratulate Saudi Arabia for the victory, they deserved to win, but also, I’m a little bit disappointed with losing two clean chances in the first half. When you don’t score, you can’t achieve a positive result,” said Radulovic.
“We didn’t use our chances, my players should learn from these games but I’m not disappointed with their performance, just on missing the two chances.
“For my team now, it’s very important to have a good rest and recover, and to try to win the last game. I think it will be enough to (reach) the next round.”
Source: the-afc.com