© theage.com Saudi Arabia boss Frank Rijkaard and Socceroo skipper Lucas Neill will be only too happy to raise a glass to each other after the World Cup qualifier between the two teams to celebrate (or commiserate) a friendship forged when the pair were coach and player at Turkish club Galatasaray.
Given that this is Saudi Arabia, the liquid consumed is unlikely to be alcoholic, but the sentiment will be there.
Rijkaard yesterday described Neill and Harry Kewell, the other formerly Turkey-based Australian, as terrific players to work with.
Kewell, who is due to join Melbourne Victory for the next A-League season, is not available for this international but Neill will lead the national team out in the heat of this desert city in the early hours of Wednesday morning (AEST).
''When you work with these guys your sympathy goes to them,'' Rijkaard said yesterday at the pre-match press conference. ''I worked with them in Turkey and I followed their games. I have really got warm feelings about these guys, they are great professionals.
''I am used to taking on old colleagues. It happens in football, it's not the first time. The game is the game. Lucas will know that the game is the game and we will always have a drink afterwards.''
For Rijkaard, who has only just taken over the Saudi side, this is a big test. But for a man who has played and coached at the highest level for 30 years, it is far from the toughest assignment he has faced.
Still, the Saudis are in a rebuilding phase, and a match against the team the former Barcelona manager and AC MIlan defender says is the best in the group will give him an idea of the immediate impact he is having on a Saudi squad in serious need of a reboot after its disastrous Asian Cup campaign in January.
He will have to do without midfielder Abdulaziz Al -Dhosari, one of his best players, who was injured in the 0-0 draw with Oman last Friday and cannot play here. ''Abdulazziz is not going to make it to play tomorrow. That's a loss, he was one of the best players for us against Oman.''
There is both a brutal impatience and an almost comic naivety about expectations fans - and media - have for their teams in this part of the world.
One questioner yesterday asked the coach whether there were any similarities between the way he wanted Saudi Arabia to play with the way Barcelona played in his tenure in charge at the Catalan club.
''We are not similar to Barca, it's not fair to compare the Saudi team to Barca,'' Rijkaard, who appeared bemused even at the notion of the question, responded.
Rijkaard has spent his few weeks in charge working on the team's structure, shape and organisation. He passed up the opportunity of a friendly match so that he could continue to work in training with his team, but yesterday had to face down suggestions that the Saudi team might now not have a cutting edge.
''We have strikers, we can get people into attack. We could have won the last game against Oman. I am looking forward to tomorrow's match. We are playing against the best team in the group and that's a big challenge. I am quite satisfied with the way we played against Oman. We didn't lose there, and we could have won.. they could have too, so I am satisfied with the result,'' he said.
''We hope to be good enough to control the game against Australia.
''It was important to get to know each other, so we did mainly training and tactics (in camp). Everyone now knows on the pitch what they have to do, and we needed the time to do that. We spent our time working with the team and getting the players to understand what was needed through the game.''
Australia boss Holger Osieck expects Saudi Arabia to be more disciplined and focused in this game as a result of Rijkaard's crash course in structure and shape.
''Saudi (Arabia) is a strong team, they have excellent players and they look more organised than before, at the Asian Cup earlier this year.''
He was disappointed with the pace at which his team used the ball in last Friday's rather fortunate 2-1 win over Thailand, and wants more urgency in this game although the heat could restrict the players' ability to run at speed for long periods. The answer, says Osieck, is to make the ball do the work.
''The faster tempo doesn't depend on faster running. The ball is the fastest player on the pitch and we have to move it accordingly, and with accuracy.
''In the Thailand game it was just a little bit different from what I expected, it doesn't mean it was all negative. From Saudi Arabia, I expect a strong solid team that is really going to test us. We have to show our solid potential to get something out of the game. We have a style and we want to play in it. it doesn't matter which team we play, we want to play our game.''
Given that this is Saudi Arabia, the liquid consumed is unlikely to be alcoholic, but the sentiment will be there.
Rijkaard yesterday described Neill and Harry Kewell, the other formerly Turkey-based Australian, as terrific players to work with.
Kewell, who is due to join Melbourne Victory for the next A-League season, is not available for this international but Neill will lead the national team out in the heat of this desert city in the early hours of Wednesday morning (AEST).
''When you work with these guys your sympathy goes to them,'' Rijkaard said yesterday at the pre-match press conference. ''I worked with them in Turkey and I followed their games. I have really got warm feelings about these guys, they are great professionals.
''I am used to taking on old colleagues. It happens in football, it's not the first time. The game is the game. Lucas will know that the game is the game and we will always have a drink afterwards.''
For Rijkaard, who has only just taken over the Saudi side, this is a big test. But for a man who has played and coached at the highest level for 30 years, it is far from the toughest assignment he has faced.
Still, the Saudis are in a rebuilding phase, and a match against the team the former Barcelona manager and AC MIlan defender says is the best in the group will give him an idea of the immediate impact he is having on a Saudi squad in serious need of a reboot after its disastrous Asian Cup campaign in January.
He will have to do without midfielder Abdulaziz Al -Dhosari, one of his best players, who was injured in the 0-0 draw with Oman last Friday and cannot play here. ''Abdulazziz is not going to make it to play tomorrow. That's a loss, he was one of the best players for us against Oman.''
There is both a brutal impatience and an almost comic naivety about expectations fans - and media - have for their teams in this part of the world.
One questioner yesterday asked the coach whether there were any similarities between the way he wanted Saudi Arabia to play with the way Barcelona played in his tenure in charge at the Catalan club.
''We are not similar to Barca, it's not fair to compare the Saudi team to Barca,'' Rijkaard, who appeared bemused even at the notion of the question, responded.
Rijkaard has spent his few weeks in charge working on the team's structure, shape and organisation. He passed up the opportunity of a friendly match so that he could continue to work in training with his team, but yesterday had to face down suggestions that the Saudi team might now not have a cutting edge.
''We have strikers, we can get people into attack. We could have won the last game against Oman. I am looking forward to tomorrow's match. We are playing against the best team in the group and that's a big challenge. I am quite satisfied with the way we played against Oman. We didn't lose there, and we could have won.. they could have too, so I am satisfied with the result,'' he said.
''We hope to be good enough to control the game against Australia.
''It was important to get to know each other, so we did mainly training and tactics (in camp). Everyone now knows on the pitch what they have to do, and we needed the time to do that. We spent our time working with the team and getting the players to understand what was needed through the game.''
Australia boss Holger Osieck expects Saudi Arabia to be more disciplined and focused in this game as a result of Rijkaard's crash course in structure and shape.
''Saudi (Arabia) is a strong team, they have excellent players and they look more organised than before, at the Asian Cup earlier this year.''
He was disappointed with the pace at which his team used the ball in last Friday's rather fortunate 2-1 win over Thailand, and wants more urgency in this game although the heat could restrict the players' ability to run at speed for long periods. The answer, says Osieck, is to make the ball do the work.
''The faster tempo doesn't depend on faster running. The ball is the fastest player on the pitch and we have to move it accordingly, and with accuracy.
''In the Thailand game it was just a little bit different from what I expected, it doesn't mean it was all negative. From Saudi Arabia, I expect a strong solid team that is really going to test us. We have to show our solid potential to get something out of the game. We have a style and we want to play in it. it doesn't matter which team we play, we want to play our game.''
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on Monday, September 5, 2011
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