Friendly tournament is ideal preparation for Qatar: Queiroz

Qatar will play Iraq in their opening match of the four-nation tournament at the Amman International Stadium today, while hosts Jordan face Iran.
The Asian champions Qatar arrived in Amman on Thursday morning following a short training camp in Doha and also had a training session in Jordan in the evening. The winners of the first two matches will meet in the final on October 17. On the same day, the losing sides will play for the 3rd place. Every team therefore plays two matches.
Qatar’s Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz addressed a press conference in Amman on Thursday and said that the tournament is importance for teams’ preparations for the forthcoming joint qualifiers for the 2026 World Cup and 2027 Asian Cup, and the Asian Cup which will be held from January 12-February 10, 2024. On his team’s match against Iraq, Queiroz said, “Facing the Iraqi team will not be easy. It is a good test for us against a team that plays with all ferocity and has attacking players. We will need to be mentally and physically strong in order to achieve our desired goal.”
He added: “Our goal is to win tomorrow against Iraq and qualify for the final – which will be against against the winner of the match between the Jordan and Iran. We look forward to presenting high-quality football on the field. We seek to deal with all circumstances in order to make the Qatari team’s journey successful and achieve the goals that we have set for ourselves.”
Queiroz denied that the level of the Qatari team has declined recently, pointing out that the team performed well during the recent matches, especially in the CONCACAF Gold Cup in the US and Canada last June and July, where Qatar made the second round beat Mexico, the eventual champions, in the first round, indicating that he has chosen to add young blood to the team with an aim of reaching higher levels.
Queiroz has opted for several changes from the side that lost to Kenya and drew with Russian in friendlies last month. Goalkeeper Jasem al-Hail, defenders Hazem Ahmed and Pedro Miguel were dropped, with Al Rayyan custodian Fahad Younes finding a place in the squad. Goalkeepers Saad al-Sheeb and Yousef Hassan and defender Boualam Khoukhi missed out after suffering ‘minor injuries’ during training sessions.