Suara.com – Wonderkid of the Saudi Arabian National Team, Talal Haji, officially broke the record as the youngest player in the history of the Asian Cup.
Talal Haji, who made his debut at the age of 16 years and 131 days, broke the record previously held by the Syrian player, Munaf Ramadan, who was recorded as the youngest player during the biggest football tournament between countries on the Asian continent.
“I can't describe my feelings about being called up to the national team and getting the opportunity to play in the Asian Cup. I hope the next stage will be better for me and the team,” said Talal Haji, quoted from the official AFC website, Saturday (27/1/2024) .
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The Al-Ittihad club striker came on as a substitute in the 64th minute to replace Abdullah Radif when Saudi Arabia played their final match in Group F of the 2023 Asian Cup against Thailand, last Thursday (25/1/2024).
“Being with a team that has great and experienced players in the national team has helped me learn and develop. We hope to win the Asian Cup title this year in Qatar,” said the teenager.
Previously, Talal Haji was also listed as the youngest player in the Saudi Arabian League when he made his debut with Al-Ittihad at the age of 16 years and 5 days.
Apart from that, Talal Haji showed an impressive performance with the Saudi Arabia U-17 National Team by scoring 10 goals in 11 matches, so that the senior team coach, Roberto Mancini, was attracted and took him to the 2023 Qatar Asian Cup.
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“Talal is a very young player and he has great abilities. I think together we will give him great experience and I hope he gets the opportunity to play more games with us here,” said Mancini.
Talal Haji has the opportunity to show his performance again when Saudi Arabia meets South Korea in the last 16 match of the 2023 Asian Cup which will take place on Monday (29/1).