HAMILTON, New Zealand: Qatar players have turned their attention to clash against Portugal with an eye on a possible first win at FIFA U-20 World Cup, Austria-based striker Jassim Al Jalabi said yesterday.
A spirited performance from Qatar on Sunday saw the Gulf side go down in their Group C clash after a first-half strike by Joao Rodriguez at Waikato Stadium.
“If you ask us, we have forgotten the Colombia loss because we are only looking at our next match against Portugal so that we could create chances of qualifying to the next round,” Al Jalabi said after a team training session yesterday.
“It is necessary to ignore that loss so that we can move forward,” Al Jalabi, who played 60 minutes against Colombia before being benched, said.
“We have switched our attention to the remaining games. We must win those to have a chance of qualifying to the next round,” the 19-year-old, who plays for LASK Linz in Austria said.
“We know that Colombia scored from a lucky move though we controlled the game in the second half,” Al Jalabi said.
“What we need to do is carry the form we showed in the second half (against Colombia) in our next game (against Portugal) on Wednesday,” he added.
Al Jalabi’s LASK Linz team mate Assim Madibo said Qatar must play as a unit in their remaining games. “There was a brief spell when we did not play as a team, early in the first half,” midfielder Madibo said yesterday.
“But we changed that trend in the second half against Colombia. I think that should be our tactic going forward.
“Maybe it was nerves in the first half (on Sunday) but now we have got that game out of our system,” Madibo, 18, said.
“When it was pressure time, we delivered with force. We created many attacks. What we need to do is exploit such attacks in our favour.
“Doing that will help us win games,” Madibo said.
“We have to compensate the loss by winning the next two games. We have the potential to do it,” Madibo said. “We will try our best to be in that position,” he added.
Defender Sultan Al Kuwari said Qatar fans should not be disappointed after the Colombia loss.
“The team played really well. Yes, we lost but we gave a good account of ourselves against a very tough side,” Al Kuwari said yesterday.
“The result was not in our favour but we fought well which makes us confident going into the next game,” the Villareal-based defender said.
“For us, the next target is to compensate for that loss by winning against Portugal. We have to be at our best to beat them,” the 19-year-old said.
Al Kuwari said playing at FIFA U-20 World Cup was a ‘unique’ feeling.
“It is natural that we feel awed playing against such big teams,” Al Kuwari said.
“Most teams suffer a dip in form when they play their first game.
“Anyway, we are not out of the tournament. We did not limit ourselves to defending on Sunday. We played brave football,” he said.
“Hopefully the luck will be on our side in the next game,” Al Kuwari said with a smile.
Al Kuwari said the team was affected in some measure when some of the referee decisions didn’t go their way.
“Like I said, luck was not our ally that day,” he said.
The Peninsula
