Qatar U-23 coach Ilidio Vale with players during a training session in Changwon, yesterday.
Doha, Qatar: Qatar U-23 football team is eyeing a successful campaign at the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 Qualifiers as they meet hosts South Korea in their first Group B match in Changwon today.
As many as 43 teams divided into 11 groups will battle during the competition to be played at a centralised venue till September 12.
The qualifying event offers AFC U23 Asian Cup berths for all the group winners and four best second-placed teams overall.
Qatar will host the AFC U23 Asian Cup from April 15 to May 3, 2024. China were due to host the competition initially but withdrew from the hosting due to COVID-19 crisis last year.
While hosts Qatar are automatically qualified for the next year’s tournament, team’s coach Ilidio Vale said the upcoming three matches will be a good opportunity for him to evaluate his players.
“Our participation in the qualifiers is an opportunity for me to figure out about the level of team and players,” Vale said on the eve of match against South Korea.
“The goal of our participation in the event is to prepare for the tournament in Qatar. We will play every match with an ambition to win and show our best,” the 65-year-old Portuguese added.
After playing against South Korea, Qatar will face Myanmar on September 9 and will play their last match of the single round-robin tournament against Kyrgyzstan on September 12.
Qatar are among the eight teams, including Australia, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Korea Republic, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, which have appeared in all editions of the AFC U23 Asian Cup.
The next year’s edition will also be a qualifying event for the 2024 Olympic Games in Paris offering three berths, and a place in a playoff against an African side for the Olympics.
Qatar U23 Squad
Goalkeepers: Ali Nadir, Amir Hassan, Yousef Abdullah
Defenders: Abdullah Al Ali, Abdullah Alsulatti, Abdullah Alyazidi, Abdullah Yousif, Abdulrahman Rashid, Diyab Haron, Jassem Gaber, Mohammed Aiash, Saifaldeen Hassan
Midfielders: Abdulaziz Mohamed, Abdulrahman Raaft, Faisal Mohamed, Khaled Ali, Mahdi Almejaba, Nabil Irfan, Naif Alhadrami, Osamah Altairi
Forwards: Ahmed Alrawi, Ahmed Alsaeed, llyes Hameed, Lotfi Madjer, Mohamed Khalid, Mohamed Surag, Tameem Mansoor
