Khaberni - Four factors have put the national football team's technical director, Moroccan Jamal Salami, under pressure and the public demand for a historic achievement in the Arab Cup, which kicks off in Qatar at the beginning of next month. Salami has chosen to stand at the highest point of challenge after clearly stating that the goal is the title.
This earlier statement by Salami was accompanied by a series of positive and impactful circumstances experienced by the team, such as intensive preparations, historic qualification for the 2026 World Cup, a legacy of reaching the 2023 Asian Cup final, and the league's long hiatus outside FIFA days for the team's sake, placing the coach in the heart of the storm of expectations. During the most recent break, the team played 6 friendly matches against teams of various levels, in both domestic and international camps lasting weeks. Although results were not the only indicator, the technical performance was widely debated among fans and analysts, particularly as some games displayed fluctuations in the defensive system against good moments in offensive transition, according to Al-Ghad.
The variety of teams that the team played gave the technical staff a clearer picture of the available options, but the identity of the main lineup with which the team will enter the tournament has not yet been decided, in the absence of key players such as Moussa Al-Taamari, Yazan Al-Arab, Mohammad Abu Al-Nadi, and Nour Al-Rawabdeh. However, the team has many outstanding names capable of filling the void left by the absence of these four players, and all participating teams are experiencing the same situation, as the Arab Cup matches take place outside of FIFA days.
The team relies on significant moral weight in its upcoming participation following the historic qualification for the 2026 World Cup, making them the first Arab team to secure a spot in the next edition of the World Cup, and this achievement has raised the ceiling of public demands.
The legacy of the former technical director, Hussein Ammouta, is still present in the memory of the sports community, after leading the team to the Asian Cup final and achieving second place, creating an unprecedented achievement for the team as a new standard to judge the team's performance.
The team enters the Arab Cup under a mix of pressure and ambition, between the legacy of achievements and public demands, and between a long preparation period and high-stake declarations.
National coach, Othman Al-Hasanat, noted that the public will not accept anything less than an achievement in the Arab Cup, especially after the team's qualification to the World Cup, a sentiment echoed by Salami who declared that our ambition is the title in the Arab Cup.
Local football affairs observer, Dr. Nael Al-Sulti, confirmed that the team possesses a strong base of players experienced in major tournaments, but the real challenge lies in creating balance between attack and defense, which may ease Salami's task in achieving his goal and benefiting from the factors available in the past period.
He added, "The rapid transitions that the team relies on need greater organization in midfield, and the solution will be in choosing a player capable of linking between lines and clearly distributing roles, and the team is capable of going far, provided that defensive lapses are minimized and relying on high pressure in the final third."
Fan, Ammar Al-Abdallat, emphasized that the team's participation in the Arab Cup is crucial for the technical staff, who have faced numerous criticisms during the past period due to a series of losses and unconvincing technical performance.
He added, "The tournament will be a true test of Salami’s ability to manage big matches, especially since expectations did not come from the media or the crowd, but from the coach’s own statements, raising the ambition to the level of the title, and the argument of absence cannot be convincing, especially since it encompasses all teams, including the Egyptian team playing in its second capacity".
Fan, Saleem Obeidat, mentioned that Salami has put pressure on himself, complicating the task by declaring participation for the title, a weapon that can be both positive and negative, and he is not far from the team that enters the tournament with diverse weapons capable of achieving the required despite strong participation from most Arab teams.
Fan, Ahmad Hayasat, mentioned that the team possesses a generation capable of delivering a significant performance in the tournament, but he emphasized the importance of Salami relying on consistency in the lineup, noting that frequent changes in friendly matches disrupted the harmony between lines, and the tournament requires clearer gameplay.
Meanwhile, fan, Khaled Al-Majali, considered that optimism exists, but caution is required, confirming that the team can reach advanced rounds if it gets rid of the repeated individual errors in defense, which appeared during the recent friendly matches, calling for greater focus on the small details that may decide the confrontations.
Fan, Mohammad Al-Ajarmeh, went on to say that the team possesses the elements to compete, but the mental factor will be critical, explaining that Salami's statements have increased the pressure on the players, which requires simultaneous psychological work with technical preparation, so that the team enters the tournament with a winning mentality from the first match.
