Surprises in the "Green Team" Squad
Giorgos Donis reshuffles the Green Team's squad for Gulf Cup 27, dropping eight key players and adding eight new faces.
Translated by Qiyas from النهار — Original source
Greek coach Georgios Donis has made sweeping changes to the official 26-man squad of the Saudi national team, known as “Al-Akhdar,” for the upcoming Gulf Cup 27, scheduled to take place in Jeddah from September 23 to October 6. The biggest surprise was the exclusion of eight key players who formed the backbone of the team at the recent World Cup finals. Notably absent from the list are captain Salem Al-Dawsari, along with Saud Abdulhamid, Ahmed Kassar, Ali Majrashi, Ali Lajami, Ayman Yahya, Saleh Al-Shehri, and Khaled Al-Ghanam.
In contrast, Donis has included eight new faces: Hamed Al-Shanqiti, Mohammed Mahrizi, Zakaria Al-Hawsawi, Mohammed Al-Qahtani, Saleh Al-Shammari, Abdullah Al-Salem, Ryan Hamed, and Hammad Al-Hammami.
Saudi Arabia tops Group A of the tournament, which also includes Iraq, Oman, and Kuwait. Al-Akhdar will kick off their campaign against Iraq on September 23, face Oman on September 26, and conclude their group-stage matches against Iraq on September 29.
The 26-man squad comprises: Mohammed Al-Owais, Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Hamed Youssef, Abdulilah Al-Amri, Jihad Zakaria, Ryan Hamed, Hassan Al-Tambakti, Hassan Kadish, Nawaf Al-Bushra, Mohammed Mahrizi, Mutab Al-Harbi, Zakaria Al-Hawsawi, Musab Al-Juwayr, Mohammed Al-Qahtani, Mohammed Kanou, Ziad Al-Juhani, Abdullah Al-Khaibari, Nasser Al-Dawsari, Alaa Al-Hajji, Sultan Al-Mandash, Mohammed Al-Shammari, Hammad Al-Hammami, Saleh Al-Shammari, Abdullah Al-Hamdan, Feras Al-Brikan, and Abdullah Al-Salem.
