2024-03-20 23:33:03
The Lebanese national football team will play its third match in the double Asian qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and the 2027 Asian Cup finals, when it faces its host, Australia, today, at 11:10 am Beirut time. It is one of two matches that will bring the two teams together on Australian soil, as they will meet once more in 26 of this month. The Lebanese team occupies second place in Group Nine following collecting two points from the first two matches by drawing with Palestine 0-0 and Bangladesh 1-1 respectively. It will face the group leaders with the full score, as the Australians opened their qualifying campaign with a major victory over Bangladesh 7-0. Then they beat Palestine 1-0 last November.
It is no secret that the two matches once morest one of the strongest teams in the yellow continent will be the most difficult for Lebanon for several reasons, the first of which is that they will play them following a long journey on the opposing team’s soil. The first match will be held at the “Combank Stadium” in Parramatta, and the second will be played at the “Geo Stadium” in the capital. Canberra, which is considered a territory of Lebanon, but he must travel there by land from Sydney, a distance of regarding 4 hours.
While Lebanon is expected to enjoy mass support in the first meeting from the Lebanese community in Sydney, the matter will be different in the second, but the other problem remains the absences that struck the ranks of the “Cedar Men,” who lack a group of players with experience on the international scene for reasons It is different, as the squad is missing from the squad Hussein Zein and Felix Melki and his brother, Al-Ansar defender Alex, in addition to Indonesian PSS Salman player Jihad Ayoub, Hassan “Sonny” Saad, and Qassem Zein, who was suspended following being sent off in Lebanon’s last match in the Asian Cup once morest Tajikistan.
Radulovic is a believer in his team
On the eve of the upcoming match, Montenegrin Miodrag Radulović, the coach of the Lebanese national team, pointed out that the strength of the Australian national team, which has players active at the highest levels in world football, “must be a source of inspiration for the Lebanese national team players to play a good match, in addition to the expected public support.” This is supposed to compensate somewhat for the hardships of travel and our suffering from the time difference and weather changes to achieve a positive result. As usual, I believe in my team and I hope it will be on time.”
As for the team captain, Hassan Maatouq, he said: “Today we face Australia with a team that I can describe as innovative and that combines experienced and young players. This match is very important for us, and we know the importance of every point in these qualifiers, so we must focus and do everything necessary in order to come out with the best result because we aspire to move to the next round of the World Cup qualifiers and qualify for the Asian Cup once more.” He concluded: “The two matches are difficult once morest Australia, but in football the opportunity is always available.”
Australia mobilizes its stars
In turn, and despite some absences from its ranks, the Australian team gathered a group of distinguished players active locally and abroad, including the Norwegian Viking midfielder, of Lebanese origin, Patrick Yazbek (21 years old), whom our team tried to attract earlier, but he chose to play for Australia, where he is considered one of the Its most prominent emerging talents.
Alongside him will be the return of the best Australian playmaker in the current period, Heracles Almelo player Aydin Hrustic, whom coach Graham Arnold clearly missed in the Asian Cup. The latter also included top scorer Adam Taggart following his brilliance with Perth Glory, scoring 14 goals in 18 matches he played this season, and the other striker Brandon Borello, who also missed the Asian Cup due to an ankle injury.
Due to injuries, well-known names will be absent from the hosts, led by Al-Nasr Saudi left-back Aziz Bahic, and national team star Martin Boyle, Marco Tilio, and Aiden O’Neill, who was already suspended for two matches following being sent off during the match that Australia lost to South Korea 1-2 in the quarter-finals of the last Asian Cup. There are also great doubts regarding the participation of the other star, Craig Goodwin, due to his suffering from illness.
Lebanon’s numbers before facing Australia
This is the second time that the Lebanon national team has played in Australia, and the first was under the leadership of current coach Miodrag Radulović
Radulovic will equal his German counterpart Theo Booker’s record of leading the Lebanon national team in 44 international matches, when the “Cedars Men” play their second confrontation with Australia.
Only 3 players from the current squad have previously played once morest the Australian national team, and they are: Hassan Maatouq, Mohamed Haider, and Nader Matar.
Leonardo Shaheen (20 years old) is the youngest player to join the national team since Mohamed Sadiq, who was called up for a match once morest the Sultanate of Oman on May 27, 2023, and he was 19 years old at the time.
Leonardo Shaheen is the fifth Swedish-born player to join the Lebanese national team, following the brothers Alex and Felix Melki, Mohamed Ali Dhaini, and Mohamed Ramadan.
1711009949
#Lebanese #national #team #faces #Australia #Asian #qualifiers #AlBinaa #newspaper
