Khaberni - The national football team lost two consecutive matches for the first time under the leadership of Moroccan coach Jamal Salami, after being defeated by Albania 2-4 last Sunday. The national team had also lost its first match during the current international break, against the Bolivian team with a score of 0-1 in Istanbul, Turkey, last Friday.
After 19 matches with coach Salami at the helm of "Al-Nashama", either in official or friendly competitions, the team lost two straight matches for the first time, despite the fact that both Bolivia and Albania rank below the national team in the international standings.
Observers revealed that the losses came at an appropriate time, to evaluate the team's readiness before entering official competitions, and also to test substitute players in the Bolivia match to prepare for the future. It should be noted that these matches were against diverse and strong schools, and both opposing teams had achieved notable results recently, such as Bolivia's victory over Brazil last month, and Albania's victory over Serbia abroad.
Many fans explained that the national team appears well and achieves the required results in official competitions. Evidence of this is reaching the World Cup finals and, before that, reaching the Asia Cup final for the first time in history. This turns the concern about the team's performance and results into reassurance if technical benefits are derived from the losses in friendly matches.
It is expected that the national team will drop in the FIFA global ranking to be issued next Thursday, after it had advanced two positions to 62nd place in the latest ranking, due to losing matches against teams ranked lower than it in addition to victories by teams close to it in the rankings.
Among the notable observations on player performance is the lack of competitiveness for starting positions, due to the constant reliance on a specific number of players in the lists and the main lineup. Some of them are absent from their clubs' main lineups, such as Yazan Al-Naimat who rarely plays with Al Arabi in Qatar, and Musa Al-Taamari with Rennes in France, in addition to Ibrahim Saadeh with Al Karamah in Iraq.
The Football Association has not disclosed why player Mohannad Abu Taha was absent from the two matches despite being with the team, similar to the discussions about the injury of player Ali Hajbi, and before him Yazan Al Arab, and Ibrahim Sabra, noting that coach Salami stated after the Bolivia match that the absences for the Albania match were due to injuries, according to Al-Ghad news.
The absence of defender Yazan Al Arab highlighted the lack of a ready alternative capable of providing the required addition and creating defensive problems needing urgent solutions, where the team conceded 4 goals in one match for the first time since the beginning of last year, after a loss to Japan at that time 1-6.
In related news, information indicates that the national team plans to hold an external camp in Tunisia during the next international break, from November 10 to 18.
Salami mentioned in a previous press conference that the national team will play a match against an African team during November, confirming that negotiations with the Tunisian Football Federation had been ongoing for some time, awaiting official confirmation and announcement of the match by both sides.
The national team is preparing for the Arab Cup, which will be held in Qatar at the beginning of December, where they are placed in the third group alongside Egypt and the UAE, and the winner of the playoff match between Mauritania and Kuwait.
The Tunisian team is in the first group of the Arab Cup, alongside the host Qatari team, and the winner of the playoff match between Palestine and Libya, and the winner of the second playoff match between Syria and South Sudan.
The national team has faced the Tunisian team in 3 matches throughout history; the first was in 1963 at the Arab Cup in Lebanon, when they lost by four goals, the second was at a friendly tournament in Syria in 1974 where the team lost by five goals, and the third and last match was in 2011 in Amman, which ended in a 3-3 draw. On another note, medical examinations that striker Ibrahim Sabra underwent after being injured in the previous friendly match against Bolivia, which were conducted with his club Goztepe in Turkey, indicated that he will be sidelined for three weeks due to a bruise in his ankle joint.
Sabra was injured in the first minute of the match against Bolivia, following a rough challenge by one of the opposing defenders inside the penalty area, causing him to leave the pitch injured and head to the hospital for necessary examinations, before the team announced his stay in Turkey for treatment with his club, and not traveling to Albania.
Sabra, 19 years old, started for the first time with the national team in the match against Bolivia, after playing 6 previous matches as a substitute. He is expected to miss upcoming league matches with his club against Alanyaspor, Galatasaray, Genclerbirligi, and Kasimpasa, before returning during the next international break.
