Identifying Saudi Arabia's opponents before the match against Vietnam team

Not the big teams Japan and Australia, but Saudi Arabia is the team in Group B that has never lost. Of the 12 participating teams,World Cup 2022 third qualifying roundIn Asia, only Iran, South Korea and Australia have not lost. Iran and Australia are the two teams that have won 13 out of a total of 15 maximum points.

The away team is in good form.

Thus, coach H. Renard's team is in very good form and is really a strong candidate to win a ticket to Qatar 2022. Since coach Herve Renard left the "black continent" to become head coach of Saudi Arabia in the Middle East in 2019, he has been winning consecutive victories. The 53-year-old French coach is the first coach in history to win the African championship with two different teams: Zambia in 2012 and Ivory Coast in 2015.

At the 2018 World Cup, Herve Renard brought the Morocco team of Mehdi Benatia and Hakim Ziyech back to the world stage after a 30-year absence. With 3 months of presence at Thien Truong Stadium, coach Herve Renard understands Vietnamese football very well. Look at the way he directed the first leg match againstVietnam teamshows that the head coach of Saudi Arabia is a highly skilled person, capable of turning the situation around, even when he is behind.

The visiting team Saudi Arabia is still rated much higher than the home team. Photo: AFC

Having been successful with the 4-2-3-1 formation, there is no reason for coach Herve Renard to change the tactical formation. The most important player for the away team is number 10 Al-Dawsari playing on the left wing, the player who has so far scored 6 goals in the 2022 World Cup qualifiers. This is also the position Al-Dawsari plays in the Al Hilal club shirt and the 30-year-old player, only 1.70m tall, with a very skillful right foot, will be a big threat to the right wing flank, which is occupied by Van Thanh. Al-Dawsari was the one who scored the equalizer 1-1 before winning 3-1 in the first leg with very neat moves.

Captain Salman Al-Faraj is considered the “soul” of the Saudi Arabian national team’s attack. This number 7 plays in the attacking midfield position, both harassing, assisting and scoring goals. In the qualifying round, the 32-year-old player scored 4 goals. Because Salman Al-Faraj and Al-Dawsari both play for the same club, Al Hilal, they play very well together and often switch positions.

The master teacher

Coach Herve Renard proved to be a pragmatic coach. In the match against host Australia, he advocated a tight game plan to bring the match to a 0-0 draw. During the 90 minutes of play, the visiting team Saudi Arabia only replaced one player, Fahad No. 19, who played in the right midfield position when Australian coach Graham decided to send in two substitutes to exploit this flank. This was a match in which Saudi Arabia did not let the game be too weak. They still held the ball for 50% of the time, they also had 7 shots (Australia 12 times) and 3 were on target.

The two coaches will compete at My Dinh Stadium. Photo: AFC

Mr. Herve Renard is determined to draw with Australia to concentrate on winning all 3 points against the host team Vietnam. Meanwhile, coach Park Hang-seo and his team are determined to get their first points in the third qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup in Asia, so the match will be much more tense and dramatic. The away team Saudi Arabia is still rated higher than the home team, because they have scored 8 goals after 5 matches and are one of the three teams with the strongest attack in the qualifying round./.