Pizzi eyes Asian Cup as Saudi Arabia face early exit from Russia

Juan Antonio Pizzi has no intention of standing down as Saudi Arabia coach after their elimination from the World Cup at the first hurdle was confirmed courtesy of a 1-0 defeat to Uruguay.

Pizzi’s men put in a much-improved showing in Rostov-on-Don on Wednesday, having been thumped 5-0 by hosts Russia in the tournament’s opening fixture.

Asked if he can keep his job, Pizzi was quick to look forward to the next edition of the AFC Asian Cup, which takes place in the United Arab Emirates early next year.

“We’re certainly going to play the next match [a dead rubber against Egypt] with the same attitude we’ve had today, with respect and professionalism. Representing a country like Saudi Arabia, that’s absolutely clear in our minds,” said Pizzi.

“As for the future, my idea is to keep working, to get this team to keep evolving and growing.

“In the short term we also have another tournament [the Asian Cup], a very prestigious tournament, a very difficult one as well, and we’ll have more time to prepare for that one.

“We have to prepare the team very well because the context will be very different than the context of a World Cup.”

Although he referenced the additional time Saudi Arabia will have to get ready for the Asian Cup, Pizzi rejected the suggestion his team were underprepared for their World Cup campaign.

“No, I don’t think so,” he replied. “It’s true that I started working with the team seven months ago but over these seven months, we’ve had training camps and that is to get to know the players a lot quicker.

“We studied between 45 and 50 players before the World Cup. We had to make a choice, we had to choose the 23 players and I believe we have prepared sufficiently.

“Our idea was to try and show from the outset many of the things you’ve seen on the pitch today and, unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that. We didn’t have the level of competitiveness that was required in the opening match.

“That was a very hard blow for us, that first match, and today we couldn’t get a draw, but we’ve seen an absolutely spectacular change in the team – it’s very, very obvious. Now we feel more composed and serene about the future. We know what we have to do in the following months.”