Qatar’s Hassan Al Haydos celebrates with team-mates after against Oman on Monday.
Doha: Soon after reigning champions Qatar clinched berth for the AFC Asian Cup China 2023 in style, head coach Felix Sanchez shifted focus to next month’s CONCACAF Gold Cup, promising best preparations for his team ahead of the top challenge.
Qatar, featuring in the Gold Cup as a guest side, will make their debut in the tournament with a Group D match against Panama on July 13. The Asian champions will play their other matches against Grenada on July 17 and Honduras on July 20. All of Qatar’s matches will be played in Houston as the biennial North American competition will kick off on July 2.
“Participation in the Gold Cup will be a good opportunity for us in our preparations for the next year’s FIFA World Cup in Qatar,” said Sanchez after Al Annabi defeated Oman at the Joint Asian Qualifiers.
“It will be a different competition as we will face teams from different schools of football. That would be a valuable experience for the national team,” the coach added.
Sanchez said after having rest, the players will begin preparation for the busy summer test starting in a month’s time.
“The conditions there will be different and we will prepare accordingly. Being the Asian champions, we are expected to do well at the Gold Cup and we will do the best possible preparation. We will be ready for the challenge,” he said.
Qatar on Monday edged Oman 1-0 to top Group E of the Joint Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023, securing their berth for the continental showdown.
Al Annabi remained unbeaten in the group, collecting 22 points from seven victories and a draw.
“I am happy that we lived up to the expectations by performing well as the reigning Asian champions. I congratulate the team for qualifying for the next Asian Cup after a good show,” said Sanchez.
Speaking about the match against Oman, which was nothing short of a thriller, he said: “It was a difficult match as Oman played well but we also showed a good performance and won the game.
There is a room for improvement in our performance but I am satisfied what we have achieved. Our next target in Asia is to defend our title.”
Meanwhile, Oman’s head coach Branko Ivankovic, following the defeat, said Qatar deserved to top the group.
“Congratulations to Qatar for their win. They have been the best team in Asia in the last few years and they deserve to be on top of the group,” said Ivankovic.
“I expect that we can qualify from the group and we hope to win the last two matches. We will give our best in those matches and hopefully, we can advance as one of the best runners-up,” said the coach, whose side has 12 points from six matches.
Oman will play against Afghanistan (June 11) and Bangladesh (June 15) in their last two matches, hoping to enter the third round of the Asian Qualifiers for the FIFA World Cup as one of the best five runners-up sides.
