Peseiro gets the boot; Al Johar steps in

AFC – DOHA, Saudi Arabia coach Jose Peseiro has been sacked after the Sons of the Desert suffered a humiliating 2-1 defeat to unfancied Syria in their opening Group B game of the AFC Asian Cup on Sunday.

Two goals from Abulrazaq Al Hussein in the 38th and 63rd minutes consigned the favoured Saudis to defeat despite substitute Tayseer Al Jassem leveling the score in the 60th minute.

Veteran local hand Nasser Al Johar will be the new coach and will lead the Saudis through the rest of their campaign though they now face a real fear of elimination in the group stage.

“The performance was bad and we want to correct things before the next two matches,” said Saudi FF President HRH Prince Sultan Bin Fahd on television while confirming the Portuguese tactician’s departure.

The 50-year-old Peseiro’s fate was sealed almost immediately after the 2007 runners-up came up short against a determined Syrian side at the Al Rayyan Stadium. Last month, the team had lost to a second-string Kuwaiti side in the Gulf Cup final.

Peseiro, a former Al Hilal and Panathinaikos coach, took over from Al Johar in 2009 and was tasked with guiding the team to the 2010 FIFA World Cup but the Sons of the Desert flopped in the intra-Asia play-offs against Bahrain.

The everpresent Al Johar will now need to boost the team’s confidence levels without losing time before they play Jordan (13 January) and face Japan (17 January) in their last group match.