Sporting Kansas City forward Soony Saad has been named to the Lebanon Men’s National Team for the resumption of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualification.
Saad will join Lebanon for the second time in 2017 as the Cedars travel to face North Korea on Tuesday, Sept. 5 at Kim Il-sung Stadium in Pyongyang, North Korea. He previously started in a 2-1 qualifying win over Malaysia on June 13, collecting his eighth cap since debuting in 2013.
Lebanon owns a five-point lead atop Group B with four qualifying matches still to play between now and March 2018. The top two finishers will advance to the AFC Asian Cup, a major quadrennial tournament organized by the Asian Football Confederation (AFC). Lebanon made its lone appearance at the competition in 2000, bowing out of the group stage, and is hoping to punch its ticket to the 2019 edition in the United Arab Emirates.
2019 AFC Asian Cup Qualifying – Group B
Team |
PTS |
W |
L |
D |
GF |
GA |
GD |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Lebanon |
6 |
2 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
1 |
+3 |
North Korea |
1 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
0 |
Hong Kong |
1 |
0 |
1 |
1 |
1 |
3 |
-2 |
Malaysia |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
1 |
2 |
-1 |
Saad made his debut for the Swope Park Rangers on Wednesday, scoring the opening goal in a 2-2 draw at Sacramento Republic FC. The forward has made 11 MLS appearances this season for Sporting Kansas City, having spent the previous two years playing in Thailand. His first stint with Sporting KC spanned from 2011-2014, when he tallied 14 goals in 71 matches across all competitions.
