Coach Felix Sanchez will be treating Qatar’s third and final Gulf Cup group stage match against Bahrain like a title clash.
A win tomorrow against Bahrain at the Kuwait Sports Club Stadium will secure Qatar a semi-final berth at the Gulf Cup.
Qatar
crushed Yemen 4-0 in their opening game at the eight-team event but
lost 2-1 against Iraq on Tuesday following an engaging battle.
With three points from two matches, defending champions Qatar are in a must-win situation as are their rivals Bahrain.
“We
have a third game in hand. It is like a final for us,” Sanchez said
after his side’s match against Iraq. “It depends on us if we want to
reach the semi-finals. Of course we will try to play a better game. We
need a good result to qualify. We will try harder.
“There are many things to be decided. It will be like a final for sure.”
The
Qatar coach said his players won’t take the pressure of a crunch game
since such a scenario is often talked about or discussed in team
meetings.
“We knew we could be in such a situation before the start
of the tournament. The players know it. They are professionals and they
are ready to play this kind of a game. They will give their best,”
Sanchez said.
Sanchez said disappointing results - like the one on
Tuesday night - could happen when a number of key matches are scheduled
in a short time.
“This is a short tournament. Every team plays a few games in a very short period of time,” Sanchez said.
Sanchez
said he opted for changes in team tactics against Iraq since key Qatar
midfielder Asim Madibo suffered a back injury in the clash against
Yemen.
“We needed to make some changes because Asim was not
available. That was a tactical change. This way we gave a chance to a
fresh player,” Sanchez explained.
“We planned the game with three
changes. We will not start our planning for the next game. We have 23
good players in the team and we have many options,” Sanchez said.
The Qatar coach praised Iraq for their resolute tactics that allowed the three-time champions to script a fighting win.
“We
tried to push and get that second goal. They used two strikers and it
was very difficult for us to stop them. Those strikers were physically
very strong. In the second half we tried many things to win. My players
did their best. They were pressing hard,” Sanchez said.
When asked
about the second Iraqi goal, Sanchez said: “It was a goal where the
(Iraq) players were very strong in the crossing. It was a very difficult
angle to mark from the second line. We didn’t follow the player (Ali
Husny) and he scored a goal. His (Qatar goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb’s)
reaction was that it was a goal and he couldn’t do anything about it. I
don’t see anything wrong with that.”
He added: “We need a result. We
have to recover the players physically and then we plan for the game. We
will now just look at the next game.”
Iraq coach Bassim Qassim was a relieved man after a hard day’s of work.
“It
was an important match and I am happy with the way we played,” Bassem
said. “It was a difficult match but we fought well,” he added.
“We
played a steady game. We were clearly a better side than our first game
against Bahrain. The players were able to read the situations well,”
Bassem said. “Since we read the situations well, we made changes
accordingly on the ground. I thought we had the opportunity to score the
third goal but could not get it,” the Iraqi coach said.
“Now we will try to get another win when we play Yemen. We are very confident now,” Bassem said.
“In
the first game we played three strikers in front. We did that to
surprise Bahrain with our attacking game but against Qatar we played in
our normal way and we put pressure continuously,” he said.
Bassem said Iraq fans want the former champions to go all the way and win the title again.
“If
we advance, then that will really please our fans. We have reached 50
percent of our target and hopefully we will advance after our match
against Yemen,” Bassem said.
“We know we have a difficult task at hand but we are standing our ground to fight every game,” Bassem said.
“Gulf
Cup is a different event. It offers a different challenge every match.
We knew playing against Yemen and against Qatar would call for varying
tactics. That’s how we looked at these matches,” Bassem said.
“There
is a big difference the way these two teams play. I know Qatari team
still has a great chance of qualifying and reaching the final,” he
added.
Qatar players take part in a training session in Kuwait City.