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ST. GALLEN, Switzerland: Juan Antonio Pizzi said ��������Ƶ’s World Cup preparations will benefit from the examination Italy gave them on Monday night, believing the test against high-caliber opposition will prepare them well for their group opponents in Russia.
The Green Falcons defeated Greece and Algeria earlier this month to boost confidence levels and the ��������Ƶ Football Federation could easily have selected similar opponents in the final three friendlies to ensure they enter the tournament on a high.
Instead, they have arranged tough games against Italy, Peru and Germany, three sides ranked in the top 20 of FIFA’s rankings, and Pizzi reckoned they will have learned more from a 2-1 defeat to Italy in Switzerland than they would have done in a routine win over a lesser nation.
“It was the kind of test that we needed,” Pizzi said. “We all know that Italy are a strong team but the hard work that we have been putting on the training pitch showed and we can take confidence from this performance. We played a good game against one of the best teams in the world, regardless of the fact that they did not qualify for the World Cup in Russia. Italy have a coach and players on a high level and were the world champions and the Saudi team achieved what was required.”
Mario Balotelli opened the scoring as Italy dominated the first half and then Andrea Belotti extended the Azzurri’s advantage after the break. ��������Ƶ got their reward for a fighting performance 18 minutes from the end following a classic counter-attack.
Salem Al-Dawsari won possession on the halfway line, freed Yehya Al-Shehri who skipped past the goalkeeper and rolled the ball into an empty net. And the Green Falcons could have had an equalizer had Gianluigi Donnarumma not denied Fahad Al-Muwallad late on.
“We knew that we would come under pressure in the early stages,” said Pizzi. “We took time to get going. The players responded well to the changes I made and we started to play much better in the second half and showed that we are progressing. We have friendly matches against Peru and Germany and our goal is to reach the World Cup highly prepared.”
Captain Osama Hawsawi felt the performance boded well ahead of the Group A games against Russia, Uruguay and Egypt.
“This performance is the result of the hard work and training we have been doing in training camps and the experience of facing Italy will be good for the players,” Hawsawi said.
“We were close to a draw but while we had the chances we were not able to take them.”
Al-Dawsari made a difference when he came on at the start of the second-half and he must be pushing for a start against Peru on Sunday.
“We recovered our confidence and spirit after the break, and showed what we could do,” he said. “It was a team effort to get back into the game.”
The match represented Roberto Mancini’s first in charge of Italy and the Green Falcons certainly gave him plenty to think about as he begins the rebuilding process following the Azzurri’s failed World Cup qualification bid.
“It was my first game, so important to win,” he said. “The first half went well, as we had 16 shots on goal and 11 corners, but then as fatigue emerged later on, we lost intensity. ��������Ƶ are a long way behind us in the ranking, but they are preparing for the World Cup right now and that’s not to be taken for granted.”
��������Ƶ will kick off the World Cup with a game against hosts Russia.
“I think Russia will win but ��������Ƶ are not a bad team and they have pace in attack,” said Mancini.