After Al-Hamdan's criticism: Saudi Arabia player sends message to fans ahead of Oman clash

Saudi Arabia prepare to face Oman

Alaa Al Haji has sent a special message to Saudi Arabia's fans ahead of the anticipated clash with Oman in the Arabian Gulf Cup "Gulf 27".

The Green Falcons face Oman tomorrow, Saturday, at the Al-Inma Stadium in Jeddah in the second round of the group stage.

Speaking to the media today, Friday, in comments reported by Saudi newspaper "Al-Youm", Al Haji said: "We accept the criticism, and this is something that comes with football. Everyone here is a big player who can handle criticism."

"But we also need the support of the street and the Saudi public, just as they were greatly supportive of us in the last match," he added.

That criticism had landed on striker Abdullah Al-Hamdan after his pale performance against Kuwait in the first round, a match Saudi Arabia edged 1-0.

On the game itself, Al Haji said: "All the matches are difficult. We watched the Oman and Iraq match, it was a strong match, and Oman are a good team, but we are capable of winning."

"All the players are as one, we support each other, our morale is high, and we are all capable of coming out of the match with a win," he added.

He continued: "We reached the goal many times in the last match, but we were not successful in scoring, and we settled for a single goal. We should have scored more, but reaching the goal in itself is a positive thing to build on in the next match."

Turning to the opener, he said: "The first match was the opener, and the first match is always difficult, but we will be more prepared in the next match."

He concluded: "We are playing the tournament on our own soil, and this is a motivation for us. We watched the past tournaments in Bahrain and Kuwait, and how big the attendance was, and this will have a positive role for us."