Coach Felix Sanchez is hoping Qatar can maintain their energy and focus when they take on Syria in their crucial last Group A game in the AFC U23 Championship today.
Although the hosts have shown tremendous form and resolve to beat China and Iran, they still need a point against to ensure their progress to the quarter-finals and keep alive their dream of qualifying for the Olympic Games.
 “We know that the time between games is very short and our main target is to recover the players to have them available for the next game,” said Qatar coach Sanchez.
“It’s hard to play three games in seven days, but it’s the same for everyone and we have to adapt and get to the next game in the best condition.”
And Qatar are hoping to have the backing of another significant crowd when they take on Muhannad
al-Fakeer’s Syria after seeing more than 11,000 turn out for their win over Iran at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Friday.
“To have a lot of people in the stadium is a good help for the players,” added Sanchez. “It’s a good environment, and although they were focused on the game, they enjoyed the people supporting us.”
Qatar have been led from the front by captain and Al Sadd star Abdelkarim Hassan who scored two goals during the team’s opening win over China and was also on target against Iran.
“Our job is not finished as we must still draw or beat Syria,” Hassan said. “We have been playing well as a team and we hope to carry that confidence into our match against Syria and also further in the tournament,” he added.
A point could also be enough for Syria to qualify after bouncing back from their opening defeat by Iran, although Al Fakeer’s side would need China to beat Iran.
Victory over Qatar and an Iran win against China would leave all three teams level on points and the teams advancing to the quarter-finals would be determined by the head-to-head records between the three teams.
“I believe every match has a plan and we must plan for the next match very well,” said al-Fakeer.
“We must analyse Qatar and I will watch the first match they played against China and I will also see Qatar’s game with Iran and we will see how we can play against Qatar and how we can win as we must win against Qatar.
“We played badly in the first match and we needed a shock to play good and we saw that some players did not play well with the other players.
“We have seven players who play outside of Syria and they came to us very late, so the harmony between the players was not good in the first match. I tried to play other players who can play well with my team, but every match also must have a formation.”
China coach Fu Bo, meanwhile, has vowed his team will not be an easy prospect for Iran despite back-to-back 3-1 defeats at the hands of Qatar and Syria.
“Both matches have been the same as we have scored and then the opponent has come back into the game,” said Fu, who will be without goalkeeper Du Jia and midfielder Xu Xin due to suspension.
“We have talked about this and it is maybe down to our lack of experience and we need to improve that.
“We have told the players that they might need to go through these experiences as they grow up and become an adult player, but we have confidence for the last match.”
Iran currently occupy second place due to a superior head-to-head record over Syria, although Mohammad Khakpour’s side are not guaranteed progress even with a win over China should Syria defeat Qatar.
“I think China is a good team,” said Iran coach Khakpour. “They lost two games, but they’re not a bad team. They were playing with one man down against Syria, but nothing is done for us.