Qatar coach Felix Sanchez.
Kuwait, The younger players in the Qatar squad are getting some much-needed match practice at the ‘highly competitive’ Gulf Cup, coach Felix Sanchez has said.
Gulf Cup squad members Akram Afif (21), Al Moez Ali (21), Assim Madibo (21) and Ahmed Moin (22) are some of the players certain to appear for Qatar at the AFC U-23 Asian Cup to be held in China next month.
Sanchez, who manages the Qatar U-23 squad as well, has tutored most of the national team players at the junior level. Sanchez was the coach when Qatar won the AFC U-19 Asian Cup title in Myanmar in October 2014.
The Spaniard also coached the Qatar squad at the FIFA U-20 World Cup held in New Zealand in June 2015.
“We have a mix of players here who are also in the U-23 group and that is good for this team and (for) the one which will play in China,” Sanchez said with a rare smile on his face following Qatar’s 4-0 rout of Yemen in their Gulf Cup opener on Saturday.
“They have a long way to go and to improve and to get the experience. The kids are working on the same target, to represent Qatar the right way,” Sanchez explained.
“Our target is to be match-competitive. That’s the goal for our players, especially the youngsters,” Sanchez said.
“We got our target (on Saturday). Hopefully we will do the same in the next two matches. After this (tournament), we will continue in China and that’s good for the players who are getting good match practice,” he said.
Qatar fired three goals inside the first 18 minutes leaving Yemen - known for individual brilliance from their players - in a state of shock.
“It was a great start. (In) the first 18 minutes we scored three goals and kept on creating chances for more goals,” Sanchez said.
“After that they kept pressurizing us but we dominated the game. I think they split the team in the second half. They left a lot of players in the front. Finally we scored the fourth goal and got our deserving win,” Sanchez said.
“Our target was to start well to show we want to win the game. I think in the first 15 minutes we showed that. We will try to do that again but we know it will be difficult. Every game is different. So many things have to be taken into account before every game,” he said.
Sanchez said his players are in top physical condition but he still has to wait for the latest report before finalising the squad for the clash against Iraq tomorrow.
“First we need to evaluate the players. I have to see their physical condition. We will play a different team (against Iraq). We need to be in possession more and we know the next game will be different because the quality will be different too,” he added.
Yemen’s Ethiopian coach Abraham Mebratu wore a dejected look after the match on Saturday.
“We had limited time to prepare for this match. My players lack the experience of international football. As you know we don’t have a league back home. We are trying to learn and improve. Unfortunately in the first 18 minutes, we conceded those goals,” Mebratu said.
“The first big challenges for us is not to concede goals like this. We played much better in the second half. We still have two more matches to go. We have to learn from this match. We have to work on our weaknesses.
“We have to be ready. This match is a very good lesson. We have to bring the players up and get them ready for the remainder of the tournament,” he explained.
“The Qatari players were better than us. They deserved to win. The important thing from this match is we have to play aggressively for the first 20 minutes. In the coming match, we have to see we don’t make mistakes.”
“We have to assess our performances really well,” the Yemeni coach said.
