AS Roma coach Daniele de Rossi was happy with their friendly win at Al Shabab.

Roma won 2-1 thanks to goals from Joao Costa and Romelu Lukaku.

De Rossi said: “We're good, we're working well. Obviously this midweek friendly has upset our plans a bit, but we've known that for some time.

“We've lost a little bit of our work programme, but we've gained knowledge. We spent a bit of time together, in retreat, which never hurts, and we had a new experience. So, I'm happy with this.

“Yes, I would have also liked to make them play more, but the trip affected us. Yesterday we trained and tomorrow, after a 12-hour flight there and back, we won't be able to do practically anything. So those who didn't play tonight would have been stopped today and tomorrow too.

“So, I had to make our players do it for half an hour. We brought in some guys, who got some satisfaction and also showed that they trained very well in the Primavera."

On their trip to Saudi Arabia, De Rossi also said: “Pleasant, unfortunately short. It's a distant country, it's a six-hour flight. You never have time to visit it as much as you'd like, as often happens when you go away. It's a country in great evolution at a football level, we're all curious to see what what's happening.

“And maybe later we will have the opportunity to visit it more calmly. The people here are crazy about football and crazy about Roma, we found people with tattoos of Roma. So, it's a pleasant surprise.

“They are making crazy investments with football, maybe in a few years we will return and find even more advanced infrastructures. In any case, a good experience."