A confident Saudi national soccer team flew out of here Wednesday for Tehran where it will face Iran in a World Cup qualifier on Saturday. Saudi Arabia coach Jorge Peseiro addressing a press conference ahead of the team's departure said he was confident that the Greens, as the Saudi team is known, will return home with all the three points from the crucial game. The coach refused to take any questions on Saudi striker Yasser Al-Qahtani, who has been sidelined for the upcoming World Cup qualifiers. When the coach's attention was drawn to the goalless draw against Iraq on Sunday, he said winning was not important there. “All I wanted was to see all of my players in action,” he said. Peseiro dropped Al-Qahtani from the national squad after the striker missed a practice session. The 26-year-old Al-Qahtani played in Al-Hilal's club match against Al-Wehda on Monday night but skipped a national squad session on Tuesday. “The coach has decided against including Yasser Al-Qahtani after he missed the training and didn't reply repeated phone calls,” Saudi team manager Fahed Al-Musebeih was quoted saying in a report posted Wednesday on the Asian Football Confederation's website. Al-Qahtani was already going to miss Saturday's match against Iran due to suspension. Peseiro has also ruled him out for the match against the UAE four days later. __
