‘Disciplined’ Qatar look to attack against Palestine

Three games and no goals conceded by Qatar. That’s been the journey so for the defending champions at the AFC Asian Cup 2023. Though the home fans are thrilled at the results, Qatar coach Marquez Lopez yesterday seemed more than satisfied to see his players execute his ‘attacking’ game plan in a focused manner in all the three matches.
Winners at the 2019 edition of Asia’s premier national team tournament, Qatar will take on sentimental favourites Palestine at Al Bayt Stadium today knowing aggression once again will be key.
“I love attacking football, but we always have to find the right balance between attack and defence. It is to the credit of the players that we have yet to concede a goal, because they implemented my ideas on the pitch very well, so I’m thankful for them for absorbing the ideas well and being disciplined,” Lopez said at a pre-match news conference yesterday.
Qatar started the 24-team tournament with a 3-0 drubbing of Lebanon followed by hard-fought wins over China (1-0) and Tajikistan (1-0) as the hosts reeled off three back-to-back wins.
“We are happy with how we have played in the group stage. We were very competitive in every game, there are small changes to make and improve on, but overall, we played well and tried to give all players an opportunity to play,” the 59-year-old Spaniard said.
Ranked 99 on the FIFA computer, Palestine have won hearts and minds with their fighting spirit in all the three matches played in Qatar. Last week, Palestine booked their Round of 16 spot with a clinical 3-0 demolition of Hong Kong at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium. Lopez was quick to acknowledge the feisty nature of tactics employed by Palestine.
“We see Palestine as a team that plays with bravery and power,” Lopez said yesterday. “We know their strengths and we will do our best to deal with them. We have a lot of respect for them as a team, but we want to do everything to get the result,” he added.
“I trust my players, not 100%, but 200%. I trust the work they do in training. It will be a difficult match, but we want to qualify to the next round. As always, our main principle is to take it one match at a time,” Lopez said knowing his chief striker Akram Afif has scored three goals whereas Al Duhail forward Almoez Ali – the MVP at the 2019 edition of the AFC Asian Cup – has also been among the scorers.
Palestine coach Makram Daboub yesterday said his side will take to the pitch knowing Qatar team would be weighed down by expectation from the home fans.
“We are all united as team, we have a close relationship and that shows in the way we play on the pitch,” Daboub said yesterday. “We have been fully focused on qualifying and getting the first win in Palestine’s history in the Asian Cup, not thinking about whether we face Qatar or any other team. It was very important for us to be in the Round of 16, so we were prepared to face any team,” he added.
“They are the home team and will have a lot of fans in the stadium, so there will be more pressure on them. We have already achieved our primary objective in this tournament so we will play with no pressure. We will do our best and play the same way we did in previous matches, keeping our upward trajectory. In 90 minutes of football, anything can happen.
“There is a ticket to the quarter-finals at stake. We respect Qatar as reigning champions and hosts, but that doesn’t mean we are here just to be here. We want to win and everything is possible, we want to fight for our chances and hopefully we can win,” Daboub said.
“We played 5-6 friendly matches before the tournament where we scored goals but also missed a lot of chances, we faced some challenges, but we are convinced with the level of work we are doing. In the qualifiers we scored a lot of goals. I would say it is just down to lack of concentration at times or bad luck, but thankfully the goals came against Hong Kong, China at the right time and hopefully we can continue the same way,” he added.