Our national team coach Graham Arnold plans to make several changes to his starting lineup in the match against Saudi Arabia today, Tuesday, as part of the third and final round of the group stage in the Gulf Cup "Gulf 27."
The Iraqi national team enters the match with four points after drawing 1-1 with Oman in the first round, followed by a thrilling 3-2 victory over Kuwait in the second round, as they aim to secure their qualification for the semi-finals.
A source from the Iraqi Football Association told the "News Video Agency" that "coach Graham Arnold, according to what he has informed those close to him, intends to rest several players who have yellow cards, fearing they could receive new warnings and miss the next match if they qualify for the semi-finals."
He added that "the national team has seven players who received yellow cards: Ibrahim Bayesh, Zaid Tahseen, Amir Al-Amari, Karrar Nabil, Youssef Al-Nasrawi, Ahmed Qassem, and Mohamed Qassem. Therefore, the technical staff is carefully considering its options before determining the starting lineup."
He continued that "Arnold is seriously considering keeping about five or six players with yellow cards on the bench against Saudi Arabia, as he does not want to lose any of them in the semi-final match, especially since some of them represent important options in his tactical plans."
This step is expected to open the door for several players who have not had many minutes in the last two matches to participate, while Arnold aims to balance securing a qualification spot and maintaining his key players for the next match if they reach the semi-finals.