Qatar footballers head to Malaysia for Syria match

Doha: The Qatari football team concluded training at the Khalifa International Stadium before heading to Malaysia yesterday for the 2018 World Cup qualifiers against Syria. The team’s training sessions were moved from Aspire to Khalifa stadium at the request of Spanish coach Felix Sanchez.Qatar has two matches remaining in the World Cup qualifiers – against Syria on Thursday and against China on September 5. Interim Qatar coach Felix Sanchez, who took over the reins after Jorge Fossati resigned abruptly, is trying out new players for the upcoming qualifiers.Qatar, the hosts of the subsequent World Cup in 2022, and ambitious China will be playing long odds to secure third place in Group A and the tricky play-off route to football’s global showpiece that goes with it. The third placed teams in each group play each other in a two-legged playoff in October with the aggregate winner facing the fourth-placed team from the Central and North America (CONCACAF) qualifying in November.The Uzbeks are third in Group A, a point behind South Korea, and targeting a first appearance at football’s global showpiece. Syria, who have been playing their home matches in Malaysia because of the civil war, are three points behind Uzbekistan but are still in with a shout of automatic qualification if they beat Qatar in Melaka on Thursday.Defeat would end Qatar’s slender hopes of a third-place finish and consign them to the ignominy of becoming the first World Cup hosts not to have previously qualified for a tournament. Qatar’s national team returned from England following an extensive training camp in Birmingham, during which they played three friendly matches. The first one saw them beat Leeds United 2-0, they then lost to Nottingham Forrest 1-2, before piping Andorra 1-0.