Football Saudi players can’t live in the past, warns coach Mancini | The mighty 790 KFGO

(Reuters) – Saudi Arabia coach Roberto Mancini has warned his players not to rest on their past successes as he tries to revive his team’s challenge for an automatic place at the 2026 World Cup.

Mancini’s side suffered a 2-0 defeat in Jeddah on Thursday against a Japanese side that had dominated Asia’s third preliminary round, leaving the Saudis playing catch-up in the race for World Cup qualification.

Saudi Arabia are hoping for a place in a third successive World Cup – and seventh overall – with Mancini telling his players they cannot rely on historic performances to secure their place in North America in two years’ time.

“We don’t live in the past, the most important thing is to qualify regardless of the ranking,” said Mancini, who succeeded Herve Renard in August 2023.

“Three years ago the situation was different. Maybe the players played more or were younger. We have to deal with the current situation.”

Under Renard, the Saudis scored a famous 2-1 win over Argentina in the teams’ opening game of the 2022 World Cup in Qatar, the last defeat suffered by Lionel Scaloni’s side before they secured the title with a victory over France in the final .

Renard stepped down in March 2023 to take charge of the French women’s team, while authorities’ efforts to strengthen the Saudi Pro League have led to a significant influx of highly paid foreign stars into the country in recent seasons.

Their arrival, which comes with clubs being allowed to sign up to 10 non-Saudi players and field up to eight in each SPL game, has left Mancini overseeing a group of players who often lack regular playing time.

“The only problem we have is that three years ago all Saudi players played every game,” Mancini said.

“Today 50, 60 percent don’t play along and that’s the only problem we have.”

Saudi Arabia host Bahrain on Tuesday and will be looking to get back to winning ways with Mancini’s side and level on four points with the visitors and Australia. Indonesia is another point behind, while China is at the bottom of the group with zero points.

Only the top two will securely qualify for the final round in North America, while the third and fourth placed teams will move on to another preliminary round.

(Reporting by Michael Church, Editing by Sam Holmes)