Wetin dey happen for Saudi Arabia football league? Na serious gist wey dey ground say Al-Ahli Jeddah coach, Matthias Jaissle, don decide to sideline one of their Brazilian stars, Matheus Gonçalves, for their match against Al-Fayha. And the reason no be injury or suspension o. E dey shock people.
According to Saudi newspaper “Al-Yaum,” the German coach just dey fear say if Gonçalves play for this match wey dey hold today Wednesday for Al-Majma’ah Sports City Stadium, e fit collect yellow card. And if that one happen, e mean say the Brazilian go miss the next big match against Al-Nassr for the Roshen League. Na serious tactical move from Jaissle.
This match wey dey play today na part of the 29th round of the Roshen League, but dem bring am forward. After this Al-Fayha clash, Al-Ahli go begin their journey for AFC Champions League next Monday. Dem go face Qatari side Al-Duhail for Al-Inmaa Stadium for Jeddah for the round of 16. So the coach dey plan ahead.
Once the Asian competitions finish, Al-Ahli go return to the Roshen League to face Al-Nassr on 28 April for the 30th round. Na serious title race dey ground. As e stand now, Al-Ahli dey third for table with 65 points. Dem dey five points behind leaders Al-Nassr and level on points with second-placed Al-Hilal, but Al-Hilal get better goal difference.
But Gonçalves no be the only player wey no go dey for this Al-Fayha match o. Injuries don plague Al-Ahli well well. Saudi full-back Zakaria Hawsawi no dey squad list because of injury. Hawsawi miss Al-Ahli’s 3-0 victory over Damak last Saturday after e return injured from Saudi national team duty.
Newspaper “Al-Riyadiah” report say the Saudi left-back do medical tests on Tuesday before travel to Al-Majma’ah to check how im knee injury dey. The result make dem exclude am from the squad. Hawsawi na the fifth player Al-Ahli go miss for this match.
The other absent players na defenders Roger Ibáñez from Brazil and Merih Demiral from Turkey, plus Saudi right-back Ali Majrashi, and French midfielder Valentin Atangana. So Al-Ahli dey face serious selection headache.
For other news about the squad, Saudi journalist Walid Saeed talk for im official account for X website say coach Jaissle also decide to exclude Brazilian defender Roger Ibanez from the match squad. Ibanez get injury during the 3-0 win over Damac last Saturday. E leave pitch for 52nd minute and Mohammed Suleiman Bakr replace am.
Although Ibanez don recover from the injury, Jaissle decide to rest am so e fit ready for the AFC Champions League campaign wey start next Monday. Meanwhile, the German coach don bring back Saudi winger Saleh Abu Al-Shamat into the squad. Abu Al-Shamat don dey absent since the match against Al-Hilal on 18 March for Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Cup semi-finals because of surgery.
The big surprise na the inclusion of young Brazilian striker Ricardo Matheus for the squad to complete the quota of eight foreign players. This one come after the absence of defenders Roger Ibáñez and Merih Demiral, plus French midfielder Valentin Atangana.
For the Saudi Under-21 League wey dem dey call Elite League, four clubs don qualify for promotion for the 2026–2027 season. The clubs wey dem relegate for this current 2025–2026 season na Al-Adalah, Al-Raed, Al-Bukairiyah, and Al-Shabab.
The four clubs wey promote na those wey reach semi-finals of the Kingdom’s Under-21 First Division Championship. The latest one na Al-Tadhamon wey qualify for semi-finals on Tuesday after dem defeat Al-Rawda on penalties. Al-Tadhamon join Al-Faisaly, Al-Watan and Al-Ansar as the promoted teams.
Al-Faisaly progress at the expense of Al-Nahda, Al-Watan after defeating Mahayel on penalties, and Al-Ansar at the expense of Al-Ta’i. E worth noting say Al-Ittifaq, Al-Hilal, Al-Nassr and Al-Taawoun don qualify directly for quarter-finals of the Joi Elite League this season because dem finish for top four places for table.
Meanwhile, eight teams go face off for four matches for the play-offs for quarter-finals of Saudi Under-21 League: Al-Fayha v Al-Qadisiyah, Al-Wehda v Al-Fateh, Neom v Al-Ittihad, and Al-Hazm v Al-Akhdoud.
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