The Portuguese coach, a former assistant at Real Madrid, was appointed in February 2009 but saw his position come under question after failing to guide the Green Falcons to last year's World Cup.

The Saudi Football Federation have now decided to act following their latest defeat, with Nasser Al Johar - who took the Saudis to the final of the 2000 Asian Cup - named as Peseiro's replacement for the remainder of the tournament, according to the Asian Football Confederation's official website.

"The performance was bad and we want to correct things before the next two matches," said Saudi FF President HRH Prince Sultan Bin Fahd in a televised interview.

Al Johar must now lift the team for remaining Asian Cup Group B fixtures against Jordan and Japan if they are to avoid crashing out at the group stage for only second time in their history.