Qatar national team defender Abdulkraim Hassan (centre) and his team-mates during a training session ahead of international friendly against Iceland in Eupen, Belgium on Saturday.
Doha: After a stunning victory over World No.8 Switzerland, Qatar willl be eyeing another impressive performance when they take on Iceland in international friendly in Belgium today.
Today’s game in Eupen will be Qatar’s second and final friendly on training tour of Europe where coach Felix Sanchez’s men are preparing for the next year’s Asian Cup. The game will kick off at 9:30pm local time.
Qatar will go into match with full confidence, hoping to replicate their performance of Switzerland match, which they won by 1-0 after a late goal by Akram Afif in Lugano last week.
Iceland, on the other hand, will be hoping to regain winning form after they were hammered by Belgium 2-0 in Brussels earlier this week.
The European side, ranked 36th in the FIFA rankings, will start as favourite against the 2022 World Cup hosts, who are hoping for significant rise in the rankings from their current 96th spot.
Sanchez, who said the win over Switzerland will motivate players and boost team’s confidence, is expected to test new strategies in today’s match.
“When you’re facing a top team we need to do more things that we are not used to do but that’s the way to compete,” said Sanchez.
Today’s match will be Qatar’s 6th international friendly this season, and so far the Al Anabi have shown good performance as they have won four with their only loss this season is a 2-0 defeat to Uzbekistan last month.
The victory over Switzerland, however, is deemed Qatar’s best result which has left the football world whispering about the Gulf state’s charge in 2022 World Cup on their home soil.
“We are in a good way,” Spain and Barcelona legend Xavi Hernandez, who captains Al Sadd told AFP recently.
“We have many talented players and it means that (coach) Felix Sanchez is doing a really good job.
“We must keep going like that. It’s a big win, of course,” he said.
Following the European friendlies, Qatar will play more international games next month when they host Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Algeria and Iran on December 17, 23, 25 and 31.
The AFC Asian Cup, the quadrennial event, will be held in the UAE from January 5 to February 1, 2019.
