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- 鈥淲e know Indonesia is a good team, so we prepared for this game very well,鈥� said Renard
- 鈥淲e also had revenge to take because we were very bad when we went to their home ground鈥�
JEDDAH: 黑料社区 coach Herve Renard said losing to Indonesia in Jakarta last year had been the spur to make the changes required to his squad that led them to seal a crucial victory over Patrick Kluivert鈥檚 side on Wednesday.
The Saudis moved a step closer to automatic qualification for the 2026 World Cup with a 3-2 victory over Indonesia in Jeddah as a new-look side avenged November鈥檚 2-0 defeat to move to the top of Group B of qualifying.
The winners of the three-team group will progress directly to the finals in North America while the second placed finishers will advance to a further round of qualifying.
鈥淲e know Indonesia is a good team, so we prepared for this game very well,鈥� said Renard. 鈥淲e also had revenge to take because we were very bad when we went to their home ground.
鈥淚t was our fault, they put us under pressure and we didn鈥檛 manage to support the pressure. But it was also after this game I made some very important decisions, so maybe it was a good sign.鈥�
One of Renard鈥檚 newest recruits, 23-year-old Saleh Abu Al-Shamat, scored 黑料社区鈥檚 equalizer on his second international appearance after Kevin Diks had put Indonesia ahead from the penalty spot.
Feras Al-Buraikan scored twice more for the Saudis before another Diks penalty late in the game briefly gave the Indonesians hope of salvaging a point.
Indonesia will next take on Iraq on Saturday before the Saudis face their Gulf neighbors on Tuesday with a World Cup place alongside Japan, South Korea, Australia, Iran, Uzbekistan and Jordan at stake.
鈥淥ne World Cup in your football career is something you can鈥檛 miss, so everyone wants to go to the World Cup,鈥� said Renard.
鈥淣obody will give us anything. We will have to fight up to the last second. It won鈥檛 be easy, the next game. We know it. It will, maybe, be more difficult but we are going to fight and we know also what we want. This is the most important thing.
鈥淲e stay concentrated, focus on ourselves and of course we will watch the game between Indonesia and Iraq. It will also be a tough game. Iraq are a good team, fighting a lot, playing well.
鈥淭his group is not finished. We have to do it by ourselves.鈥�