Saudi Arabia coach Mancini sends three key players home ahead of Asian Cup

After the World Cup, Saudi Arabia's head coach Herve Renard left the team to accept an offer to manage the French women's national team. After a lengthy search, Saudi Arabia settled on Roberto Mancini, offering him a salary of $45 million a year.

Three days before the start of the Asian Cup, Mancini dropped three extremely important players from the squad and replaced them with reserve players. Two Al Nasr first-team players, goalkeeper Nawaf Al Akidi and full-back Sultan Al Ghanam, as well as team captain Salman Al Faraj, left the national team camp.

"All these players did not want to go with the national team. They decide, not me. They were on the list.

Salman said at our first training camp that he did not want to come to play in friendly matches. I do not believe that any of the players can decide when to play and when not to play.

The second is Sultan, and then Nawaf. I spoke to both of them before signing and asked them if they were happy to come to the national team. And Sultan told me that he was unhappy, that "I play or I'm not". There is not a single player who can decide whether he will play or not. I decide that. And he decided not to come.

Nawaf told me he would come, but the next day, in Riyadh, he told us he didn't want to. We tried to talk to him, put him on the list. Three days ago, he came to our goalkeeping coach and said: "I don't want to stay here if I don't play". I don't know why he decided that," Mancini said at the pre-match press conference.

In the first match of the group stage of the Asian Cup, the Saudi national team will face Oman.