Saudi Arabia will have to play their decisive match against Oman in the Arabian Gulf Cup, "Gulf Cup 27", without their golden substitute.
The Green Falcons face Oman tomorrow, Saturday, at the Al-Inma Stadium in Jeddah, in the second round of the group stage.
Twenty-four hours before kick-off, Saudi Arabia confirmed that Mohammed Al-Qahtani missed the final training session today, Friday. The Al-Qadsiah winger is nursing abdominal pain.
That rules Al-Qahtani out of the clash with Oman. He has not trained since the 1-0 win over Kuwait the day before yesterday, Wednesday, in the opening round of the group stage.
His absence is the second blow for Saudi Arabia, following Al-Nassr goalkeeper Nawaf Al-Aqidi, who suffered a serious injury in that first match against Kuwait.
Al-Qahtani has been superb this season with Al-Qadsiah, scoring two goals and providing one assist. Remarkably, he has managed all that off the bench, playing just 262 minutes, less than three full matches.
Against Kuwait he came on for a handful of minutes and fired a dangerous shot at Saud Al-Hawshan's goal, though he neither scored nor set one up.
A positive result against Oman is all Saudi Arabia need to book their place in the semi-finals, regardless of how they fare against Iraq in the third round next Tuesday.