Despite the negative results: Donis gives Vieira a vote of confidence at Al-Ittihad

The German coach gets the stamp of success

Greece's Georgios Donis, head coach of the Saudi Arabia national team, has handed Al-Ittihad counterpart Jens Wissing a vote of confidence in his work with the German's side, despite its recent run of poor results.

Donis named his final 30-man squad on Wednesday for the upcoming camp, with Saudi Arabia set to face South Korea and Uzbekistan in friendlies on 13 and 17 November.

Four Al-Ittihad players made the cut: left-back Fares Abdi, midfielders Moukhtar Ali and Ahmed Al-Ghamdi, and right winger Marwan Al-Sahafi.

That marks a rise in Al-Ittihad's representation compared to the Arabian Gulf Cup "Gulf 27" last September and October.

Back then, Donis picked just two of their players. One was Moukhtar Ali, alongside defender Hassan Kadesh, who misses out this time through an injury he picked up during the last break.

The selections underline the quality of Al-Ittihad's football, even after a slip in their last two matches. They drew 1-1 with Abha in the Saudi Roshn League, then crashed to a 4-1 defeat against UAE side Al-Ain in the AFC Champions League Elite.

In the league, Al-Ittihad sit fourth on 24 points from seven wins, three draws and a single defeat, the latter coming against runaway leaders Al-Hilal, who are six points clear at the top.

Asia tells a different story. The Saudi side are struggling there, down in tenth in the West group standings with just four points from one win, one draw and two defeats.