With just four points from six matches in their kitty, Qatar will need nothing short of a miracle if they are to qualify for the World Cup in 2018.
The long-drawn qualifying campaign that got off to a poor start under Jose Daniel Carreno before fellow Uruguayan Jorge Fossati took charge and sparked a minor revival with a win over Syria and a draw against China.
But a soul-crushing 1-0 loss to Iran last week in Doha saw Qatar plummet to the bottom of Group A leaving them with the improbable task of winning their next four matches at the same time hoping that other results go their way.
As things stand now, Iran have one foot in Russia with 14 points, having not lost a single match so far. South Korea, who were upset 1-0 by China last week, are second with 10 points followed by Uzbekistan on nine, Syria on eight and China on five.
Qatar, who were beaten 1-0 by Uzbekistan in Doha earlier, will take on the Central Asians in Tashkent today hoping to gain three points and in the process avenge their loss.
Like Qatar, the Uzbeks too have never qualified for the World Cup finals and the outcome of their clash today will provide a much clearer picture of who among them have a better chance to make it to Russia in 2018.
The Qataris arrived in Russia on Sunday and hit the ground running with coach Fossati supervising their training, but it will be the form of their star players that would be a major worry.
Many of Qatar’s star players have been off colour, and it showed against Iran last week. Striker Sebastian Soria has hardly won a match on his own for Qatar in the many years he has been with the Qatari team, while the others have also not lived up to expectations.
To add to Qatar’s woes, key players Boualem Khoukhi and Abdelkarim Hassan are both suspended, leaving Fossati with a selection headache.
Uzbekistan, too, are smarting from their loss to Syria last week. A win would have lifted the Central Asians into second place in Group A but Omar Kharbin’s injury-time penalty now leaves Uzbekistan, who will be without the suspended Islom Tukhtakhujaev, with a major fight to secure a top-three position as Syria lurk just a point behind in fourth.
Meanwhile, China’s fledgling revival under Marcello Lippi will be tested by Asia’s top team Iran, while Australia need to return to winning ways when they play UAE.
China shocked South Korea 1-0 last week for their first win of Asia’s final qualifying groups, and Lippi says there is much more to come from Team Dragon.
Elsewhere Japan host Thailand, South Korea play Syria and table-topping Saudi Arabia entertain Iraq as the road to Russia 2018 heads towards its conclusion.
Lippi, who coached Italy to World Cup victory in 2006, has been hailed as a hero for fashioning China’s rare win over South Korea, which hauled them off the foot of Group A with four games to go.
He said China now need to maintain their momentum. They now lie five points back from an automatic berth and have games to come against Syria, Uzbekistan and Qatar, after their trip to Tehran.
“We worked hard to get the three points we needed (against South Korea),” said the 68-year-old Italian, according to Xinhua news agency.
“But it is not enough to win a ticket to the World Cup. We need to continue this momentum and win the following matches.”
Lippi added: “We still have room to improve. We didn’t play the same level as we did in the last match against Qatar.”
However, playing Carlos Queiroz’s Iran away is a different proposition to last week’s home game in Changsha, and Lippi said China cannot afford to sit back in the Azadi Stadium.
“In the first half, we played too defensively when we were under pressure. I don’t want to see the same 45 minutes in the following matches any more,” he said.
“In the second half, my team was well organised in defence and created several chances to score. We still have much work to do.”
Qatar players train ahead of their World Cup qualifier against Uzbekistan in Tashkent.
