Qatar face China in do-or-die clash

By Suman Malla/Doha

Qatar are staying positive as they take on China in their do-or-die Group A game at the Asian Cup today.  The match starts at 7.15pm at the Khalifa Stadium.
Defeat against China will send them spinning out of the competition, and coach Bruno Metsu accepts the heat is on.
Qatar lost the tournament’s opening match 2-0 to Uzbekistan to slip to the bottom of Group A alongside Kuwait, who also lost to China by the same margin. The top two teams from the group qualify for the quarter-finals. "We’re in a situation where we don’t have a choice but to win,” Metsu told a press conference yesterday.
"We know the Chinese team is very well organised. It’s going to be a difficult match. But we will try everything possible to win this match,” said the Frenchman.
Metsu, who famously guided Senegal to the World Cup quarter-finals in 2002, blamed mental fatigue as a major cause for his side’s meltdown in the tournament opener and that of other Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) teams as well. Apart from Qatar and Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and Bahrain also suffered defeats in their opening group games.
"We’re talking about technique and physical qualities after we witnessed all the Gulf teams lost their opening matches. But what we are missing out here is the mental toughness,” he said.
"It’s difficult to play two big tournaments at a short interval,” said Metsu, referring to the Gulf Cup which was held in Yemen in November.
 "It’s difficult for young players to come out of one tournament and then head straight into another like the Asian Cup,” he added. "There is additional pressure on Qatar players as the hosts.
"On the other hand, Jordan and Syria, who are not part of GCC, looked fresh and played with more aggression.” But Metsu maintained that his players are firmly committed to the Asian Cup. "Every player in the team has a positive attitude and wants to win the trophy. All the players are playing with passion and commitment and are giving everything for their country,” he said.
"The China team is an excellent team, very well organised and not easy to unsettle. We will use every tool we have to win the match,” he said, hinting at some changes to the side but declined to give away any information.Making today’s task doubly difficult is the fact that Qatar will be without their creative midfielder Fabio Cesar, who picked up an injury in last Friday’s defeat.
In his absence the onus is now on Wesam Rizik to play that role. The Al Sadd midfielder, apologising to fans for their poor opening game, appealed to them to keep supporting them.
"We’re very sorry for the loss against Uzbekistan. We don’t have a choice but to win our next match. And we are very committed to that,” said Rizik, promising "all of us will try very hard against China and stay in the hunt in the competition.”
China coach Gao Hongbo is mindful of a possible Qatar backlash, but he said he would not divert from the team’s main objective coming to the Asian Cup.
"We have come here with a clear target to allow more players to experience the Asian Cup,” Hongbo said, indicating that his main target is the 2014 World Cup in Brazil. China has the youngest squad in the competition with an average age of under 25 years.
Hongbo said there would be some changes to the starting line-up for today’s match but he expected a good contest.
"Qatar have a good team, and many good players, but we will try our best,” he added. "The Chinese team is never afraid of any team, so my plans and my ideas won’t be affected by how Qatar play.”
Veteran midfielder Yu Tao believes China’s high fitness level could be one of the advantages going into the match.
"We saw that the distance covered by our team was more than the distance covered by the Kuwait team,” said Tao.