Renard's Six-Player Reboot: Saudi's Bold Press to Crank Up the Palestine Clash

Renard's Six-Player Reboot Aims to Press Palestine

Pressing hard, scoring early tonight.

French coach Hervé Renard, head of the Saudi national team, seeks to shape his players in the best possible way ahead of Friday's quarterfinal with Palestine, part of the 2025 Arab Cup in Qatar.

A wave of anger swept Saudi sports fans after the 1-0 loss to Morocco in the final group game, despite advancing in the first two rounds.

The reason lies in Renard's numerous changes to the Green lineup, but the French coach stressed in a brief press conference that he will field a different XI than in the group stage.

According to the Saudi daily Al-Youm, Renard will bring back six players to the starting lineup for the Palestine match to press the opponent and score early: Nawaf Al-Aqidi, Hassan Tambakti, Abdullah Al-Khibrri, Mohammed Kano, Salem Al-Dosari, and Firas Al-Brikan.

In the previous match against Morocco, goalkeeper Abdul Rahman Al-Sanabi and Mohammed Bakr played in defense, Morad Houssawi and Musab Al-Ghair in midfield, and Saleh Al-Shehri up front.

Notably, the Green looked great in the first two rounds, beating Oman and the Comoros, before the defeat to the Atlas Lions.

Sniper-style closing lines: If Renard's plan were a weapon, it would be a precision rifle—one shot, one goal, no wasted bullets. And if strategy were a sniper, Renard just aimed straight for the head of chaos on the field.