

Roberto Mancini played down Saudi Arabia's chances of winning the Asian Cup after they reached the knockout rounds with a laboured 2-0 victory over nine-man Kyrgyzstan on Sunday.
Kyrgyzstan had Ayzar Akmatov sent off in the ninth minute and Kimi Merk joined him seven minutes into the second half in Doha. Mohamed Kanno opened the scoring for the Saudis in the 35th minute. But the three-time champions - ranked 56 in the world to Kyrgyzstan's 98 - managed only one more late goal from Faisal Al-Ghamdi in a toothless attacking performance.
Mancini, who won the European Championship with his native Italy in 2021, said his team were lagging behind the favourites to win the title. "The rankings say Japan, Korea, Iran, Australia - and we are too far," he said. "But you know in this tournament, when you play one game, everything can happen in one game.