Doha: Hosts Qatar will be on the guard against conceding an early goal in their upcoming quarter-final clash against DPR Korea when the two clash at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Friday.
Coach Felix Sanchez (pictured) conceded and early goal, in the first five minutes of the match, against Syria but rallied to register a 4-2 win to finish with an all-win record and top Group A, with Iran finishing second.
“It is obviously not the start of the game we expected, we were a bit sleepy in the beginning of the game and our opponents were pushing and we received a goal, but the mentality of the team was very good after we conceded,” said Qatar coach Sanchez, after the Syria match.
The Spaniard gave full credit to his boys for the fighting win.
“We scored three and this gave us the rhythm of the game and I think in the second half we created many chances to score more goals and finally it was 4-2 and I am proud of the players for their effort. It is amazing against a team who it is difficult to play against, but I think we deserved the result.”
Sanchez said his players are in high spirits after three wins in as many matches.
“Our aim is the next game which is the quarter-final and there is no second chance and we will try to compete well and play well in the next game to be in the next stage which is the semi-final. The players are highly motivated and looking forward to play in the next game and to win to be in the semi-final.”
Looking to build on Friday’s 3-1 win over China to remain in the qualification picture, Syria took the lead after just four minutes as Yousef Kalfa rifled home from the edge of the penalty area past an unsighted Muhannad Naim in the Qatar goal after Amro Jeniat had been given a second chance to deliver the ball into the box.
But the lead lasted just six minutes as captain Abdelkarim Hassan bundled home via the underside of the crossbar from the edge of the six yard area after Akram Afif’s poor free-kick from the edge of the area had fortunately deflected off a team-mate on the edge of the wall. Qatar completed the turnaround just 15 minutes later as Ahmed Alaa rounded off a swift counterattack by holding off defender Abdullah Al Shami before firing low across Nassan from inside the area following Afif’s charging run from inside his own half.
And just three minutes later Qatar added a third as Ali muscled off defender Mouaiad Al Ajaan to race onto Afif’s sublime chipped pass before calmly rounding exposed goalkeeper Nassan and rolling the ball into the empty net.
In the second half, the contest appeared to be heading for a tense finish as Omar Kharbin converted from the penalty spot with nine minutes remaking after Nakkdahli had been bundled over inside the area by Musaab Al Khidir. Any thoughts of a comeback, though, were quickly extinguished a minute later as Alaa raced onto Ali Asad’s perfectly weighted through ball before beating Nassan with a composed finish. Qatar earlier registered wins over China and Iran to set-up a quarter-final meeting with the runner-up from Group B on Friday.
The Peninsula
