From left: Qatar’s Hassan Al Haydos, Abdelkarim Hassan and Bassam Al Rawi take part in a training session at the Aspire training site, yesterday. Pictures: AFP
Doha: Hosts Qatar are among the lowest ranked sides at this year’s World Cup but captain Hassan Al Haydos believes that the reigning Asian champions have a lot to offer on their debut in the football showpiece.
The home team – ranked 50th in the world – is just ahead of Saudi Arabia (51) and Ghana (61) in the FIFA rankings as they begin their campaign against Ecuador today as underdogs in Group A that also includes European giants Netherlands and African champions Senegal.
Qatar under coach Felix Sanchez have been preparing for years, in fact the team’s preparations for the World Cup started soon after the country won the bid to host the prestigious tournament in 2010.
The team under Sanchez, who replaced Uruguayan Jorge Fossati as the national coach in 2017, went through an extensive preparation plan focusing the World Cup.
After Qatar’s Asian Cup triumph in 2019, Al Annabi gained rich experience of international football as they featured in the Copa America, CONCACAF Gold Cup and FIFA Arab Cup besides appearing in World Cup Qualifiers despite being already qualified as the host country.
Sanchez’s men were also the first to start their World Cup-bound training camps, staying away from their clubs and families for over four months.
Al Haydos, who is Qatar’s all-time most capped player with over 160 international games under his belt, hoped all the efforts by players and the team management would reap rewards at the World Cup.
“We are ready to show the result of all our hardwork. I hope we will perform well and live up to expectations,” the seasoned forward told a press conference on the eve of Qatar’s opening match against Ecuador at the 60,000-seater Al Bayt Stadium.
“Of course it’s a tough challenge for us but that is what we were preparing for. We are full of enthusiasm and ready for the huge task tomorrow [today],” he added.
Al Haydos said Qatar’s isolated training camps in Spain and Austria helped players focus on preparation.
“We have been far away from the eyes of the media but that helped us to focus on our preparation and on football,” he said.
The 31-year-old Al Sadd star said he had no words to describe the feeling of leading the national team at country’s first World Cup in front of home fans.
“I am really proud to captain Qatar on our World Cup debut. It was my childhood dream to play the World Cup as a footballer. We tried to qualify before but we didn’t qualify,” he said.
“The feeling is indescribable... it is incredible for me.”
With four nations including Tunisia, Morocco and Saudi Arabia representing Arab nations in the first-ever World Cup being hosted in the region, the Qatar captain hoped all the sides would put up a strong performance.
“This World Cup edition is for all the Arabs. We have to show our strength with our best performance to represent the Arab football in the best manner. We wish all of them the best.”
Ecuador not feeling pressure: Caicedo
Meanwhile, Moises Caicedo said Ecuador were not feeling pressure of starting their World Cup against the home side.
“It’s going to be a very difficult game but we don’t feel any pressure,” the Brighton & Hove Albion midfielder told reporters yesterday.
“We’re a very young team and we’re here because we’ve worked a lot. We’re going to be focused on ourselves and we want to win,” said the 21-year-old before adding the players are excited to feature in the opening game.
“Knowing that we are going to have to open the World Cup was something very special for us because everyone is going to be watching us. It is very emotional for us and we can show who we are on the field,” he said.
“I feel very excited. We are calm, we know that it will be a very tough game, but we want to do it in the best way,” Caicedo added.
