Doha: Unbeaten Qatar will be aiming to extend their winning streak in the 2018 FIFA World Cup, Asian Zone qualifying when they take on Hong Kong in Group C match here today at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
Coach Daniel Carreno side has already made it to the next phase of the qualifying with an unbeaten record leading with 18 points but aim to keep the winning momentum going.
In contrast, Hong Kong, who are placed second in Group C, are looking to either a draw or victory to have an outside chance of qualification for the next phase.
Having collected six wins in Group C, consisting of Maldives, Bhutan, Hong Kong and China, ‘Al Anabi’, are in mood to stop and are eager to pick up their seventh consecutive win.
Coach Carreno speaking on the eve of the match said that his boys are all pumped up to pick full points.
“We have to win the match, we enter the field with a single objective that is to win every match, all the players and team have victory on their mind when they take to the field,” said the 52-year-old Uruguay tactician, who took charge of the team in May last year.
Elaborating further as to why they are targeting full points even after having qualified for the next phase Carreno said: “ Even though we have qualified, a win will give us more confidence and reinforced the team as a strong unit and help us attain a better position in the FIFA rankings.”
Carreno said “great amount of work needs to be done” if his side have to qualify for the World Cup in Russia.
“Our prime objective for us is qualifying for Russia, We are doing our best, it is a difficult story, there are strong teams in the AFC, we do trust our team and players but we feel that a great amount of work needs to be done,” said the Qatar coach.
Carreno said he will not making drastic changes and said all the 28 players in his squad are fit and all of them are ready to take the field in today’s match.
Meanwhile, Brazilian-born 35-year-old Rodrigo Tabata is likely to make his international debut for Qatar.
Carreno expressed full confidence that the addition of Tabata, an outstanding player for the last two seasons in the Qatar Stars League, will add value to his team.
“Tabata is a good player, he played very well this season and also last season. Tabata can contribute a lot to the teams effort in terms of technical performance and physical play,” Carreno said, while justifying Al Rayyan midfielder’s inclusion in the team.
Commenting on striker Sebastian Soria, Carreno said he is an “important member of the team, he played very well in the season this league and a very distinguished player and admired for his capabilities.”
For Hong Kong, today’s match will be crucial if they are make it to the next phase.
They sit second in the group, three points ahead of huge rival China, who have two games to play.
A victory in what is their final group game could see them progress to the third round of qualification.
The four second placed teams with the best records in the eight AFC groups will progress to the final round of qualification.
Currently Hong Kong are the team with the fifth best record, but victory in Doha could change that.
Three points in Qatar would be especially sweet as it could also deny China -- third in Group C -- any chance of getting to Russia.
“It will be a big achievement for us to stay second with the big countries like China, said coach Kim Pan-gon.
“We know it’s an amazing story.”
Following completion of the second round of qualifying, 12 teams from the AFC -- eight group winners, including Qatar, and the four best losers -- will begin competing later this year to secure one of four guaranteed berths in Russia.
The Peninsula
