Fahd Al-Harifi, the former Saudi national team star, attacked Roberto Mancini, the Al-Akhdar coach, after losing 5 points at the start of the decisive round of the Asian Cup qualifiers. World 2026.

Al Harifi said on Al Arabiya FM radio: “Unfortunately, the Saudi Federation and sports officials are watching Mancini without performance or results for a year and a half and they do not do anything. Whereas if the coach had been Saad Al-Shehri, or any other local coach, he would have been dismissed.”

He added: “Who chose Mancini to lead the Saudi national team? We have reached the point where more than 50,000 will attend.” Spectators at Al-Jawhara Stadium, watching this defeat, for the first time we lost to Japan on our home soil.”

He continued: “The Saudi national team lost 5 points at the beginning of the qualifiers. I think that if we had played without a coach, we would not have lost this number of points after only 3 rounds.”

He continued: "Mancini excludes Saudi League players who mainly play for their clubs, then introduces others who do not participate, and in the end he complains about foreigners controlling Roshen clubs."

He continued: "The Italian coach played with five defenders against weak teams for a year and a half, and when he faced the strong Japanese team, he changed this approach and said, 'I changed for you. There is definitely a distraction for the players.'"