Qatari players take part in a practice session ahead of their AFC Asian Cup Quarter-final match against South Korea which will be played in Abu Dhabi, today.
Abu Dhabi: Coach Felix Sanchez is confident that Qatar players are capable of handling the pressure when they take on two-time champions South Korea in their quarter-final of the AFC Asian Cup today.
The eagerly-anticipated encounter takes place at the Zayed Sports City Stadium in Abu Dhabi.
Unbeaten in four matches, Qatar will be looking to continue their winning momentum as they face one of the tournament favourites, having won Group E and then beating Iraq 1-0 in the Round of 16 – a run of victories that has seen them score 11 times without conceding a goal.
Despite Qatar never having progressed beyond this stage in any of their previous nine appearances in the competition, Sanchez yesterday said his squad is adequately equipped to cope with the intense nature of an AFC Asian Cup quarter-final tie.
“Up until this point the team has performed well and has achieved some very good results,” Sanchez said yesterday at a pre-match press conference.
“Of course, all of them are professional players and they are used to playing in competitions such as their domestic leagues and the AFC Champions League, so they are used to having this kind of pressure,” Sanchez, who took charge of Al Annabi in 2017, said.
“The pressure of being in a quarter-final is more than welcome and I think they have to enjoy it, and work very hard to have the chance to have at least one more game,” the Spanish tactician said.
“I want them to feel the pressure in the right way because it is a very important game, but they are absolutely used to these kinds of situations,” he added.
For today’s match, Qatar will be without 2018 Asian Player of the Year Abdelkarim Hassan and Assim Madibo after the key duo picked up their second yellow cards during the win over Iraq.
While acknowledging the absence of Hassan and the influential young midfielder Madibo’s loss was a blow, Sanchez remained adamant that his squad has sufficient depth to deal with their enforced absence, something which he believes is par for the course in tournament football.
“We know we are going to face a very tough game against what many people believe are one of the favourites for the tournament,” Sanchez said yesterday.
“Once you reach this far in the competition, it is normal to have injuries or players suspended. We are a group of 23 players, and we have every confidence in all the players who are here.
“Of course, it would be better to have everyone available, but we are sure that we will maintain our (current level) and be ready to compete against South Korea,” the Qatar coach added.
Qatar reached the last eight of the prestigious tournament for the third time when they beat Iraq 1-0 on Tuesday.
Qatar have scored the highest number of goals so far in the tournament with 22-year-old Almoez Ali closing in on the record for most number of goals in Asian Cup history .
Ali, who claimed the top scorer award at the AFC U23 Championship in 2018, has been in sensational form throughout the tournament, netting seven times in four matches – including a four-goal haul against North Korea.
Sanchez’s counterpart Paulo Bento said that his team wary of Qatar’s strength.
“They have players who are very good technically, their strikers and wingers are also very fast. It will not just be about Almoez Ali as Qatar are a very strong unit as a team,” Bento told representatives of media during a pre-match press conference yesterday.
“It will be a very difficult game. They are very good offensively and defensively. This is a team that has worked together for a long time with a coach who knows the players very well,” he added.
Son Heung-min, the popular winger, is probably the coach’s biggest strength, but Tottenham Hotspur star has failed to live upto Bento’s expectations in UAE this time.
However, Bento said that its not a concern as long as south Korea keep finding the net.
“I am not concerned that Son hasn’t scored, it isn’t mandatory that he scores for the national team,” Bento said.
“For us, what is most important is that we score in every game in this competition. I think we should have scored more goals as we created a lot of situations in almost all the games we played.
“It is not important who scores. What is most important is that we create opportunities and score,” the coach added.
Bento said South Korea need to assert their style if they want to contain Qatar.
“We must play as we like to play. We must control the ball, dominate in the offensive part of our midfield. There must be good reaction when we lose the ball and we must also control the space behind our defensive line,” Bento, a former Portuguese midfielder, said.
