BHUTAN: Visiting Qatar side will try to avoid complacency against hosts Bhutan, coach Daniel Carreno said yesterday.
The two sides clash in a 2018 FIFA World Cup and 2019 Asian Cup joint qualifying match at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu today.
Qatar, who crushed Bhutan 15-0 in their opening leg in September, are leading Group C with 15 points following five successive wins in the qualifying campaign.
“No, we won’t be complacent,” Carreno said during a press conference yesterday.
“We are here to get three points and retain our top spot in the group,” Carreno added.
“We will not underestimate Bhutan. We have prepared really well, yes,” Carreno said.
“We aim to exhibit an all-round game on the pitch so that we get what we are looking for,” the Uruguayan said.
“We respect our opponents. They are a young team and surely they won’t to do well on their home soil,” he added.
Qatar will be missing their star striker Khalfan Ibrahim who has recovered from an injury sustained in September but needs match fitness to claim a recall, Carreno said before leaving for Bhutan.
Qatar landed in Bhutan on Sunday. Al Anabi played an intense international friendly against Turkey in Doha on Friday which the home side lost 1-2.
Carreno insisted his unbeaten team were “a long way” from reaching the 2018 World Cup finals.
Carreno’s side have won all five of their Group C matches so far and need -- at most -- six more points from their remaining three games to progress to the next stage of the qualification.
Three of those points should come against bottom-placed Bhutan today after Qatar crushed the makeweights 15-0 in Doha in September, a record victory for the Gulf nation.
At the same time as Qatar are in Bhutan their two main rivals in the group, Hong Kong and China, meet each other in a potentially highly-charged encounter.
Carreno says he wants a draw in that game and if his wish is granted, and his team beat Bhutan, they will have officially progressed to the next stage of Asian zone qualifiers, where the region’s top 12 teams compete for four spots in Russia in 2018.
But Uruguayan Carreno refuses to get carried away. “We are on the right track. However, right now we haven’t won anything,” he said. “When it comes to playing in the World Cup, we are still a long way from it.”
He also insisted that today’s match in the Bhutan capital of Thimpu, being played at altitude and on an artificial pitch, was no means a guaranteed three points for Qatar. “We cannot say what the result will be. Football is full of surprises.
“Our main aim is to get three points.
“This match is going to be quite different from the first one,” he said at a press conference before the team left Qatar.
“We are going to play at high altitude, we are not used to playing on an artificial pitch, so we are not used to playing in such an environment.
“There are many factors which we will have to conquer to win,” he said.
Carreno is the national side’s 14th coach in the last 16 years but shrugs off the pressure even if he admits it might not be good for his complexion.
“In the last six months, despite all the good results, all the pressure has made me look a bit older,” the 52-year-old said.
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