Their favourite pass time..........

Saudis in turmoil after coach is fired
AFP/Doha

Peseiro: axed
Saudi Arabia’s quest for a fourth Asian Cup lay in tatters yesterday after they sacked beleaguered coach Jose Peseiro in the wake of an embarrassing 2-1 defeat to Syria in their opening game.

With relations with the Saudi media at an all-time low, Peseiro’s bosses immediately wielded the axe after seeing the Green Falcons deservedly beaten by Group B outsiders Syria on Sunday evening.

“We have sacked Jose Peseiro after the loss and appointed Nasser al-Johar to continue our mission at the Asian Cup,” said the Saudi Football Association in a statement in the wake of the humiliating defeat.

The Saudis, traditionally one of the region’s best teams, had been expected to compete for the Asian Cup crown alongside the likes of Japan, Australia and South Korea, but a brace from Abdulrazak al-Husein sealed Peseiro’s fate.

Former Sporting Lisbon coach Peseiro, 50, who took over from Al Johar in 2009, had been on borrowed time amid intense media pressure.

At a press conference on Saturday in the lead-up to the Syria game he clashed repeatedly with Saudi reporters who questioned his tactics, team selection and deteriorating relations with the media.

““But please respect my personal life. Sometimes I make mistakes and sometimes I do good things, but whatever, I will be the same.

“I accept the pressure, but ask you don’t put pressure on my players because they need to play.” Peseiro cut an even more isolated figure in the press conference after the Syria debacle, a game in which the Saudis drew level on the hour before conceding a sloppy second three minutes later.

“I believe that we will win the Asian Cup,” Peseiro told reporters in the wake of the defeat, to laughs of derision from some Saudi press.

He was fired immediately afterwards.