Qatar looks to bounce back with win against Yemen today
Qatar will be hoping to bounce back from the shocking 2-1 defeat by Iraq in the opening match of the 24th Arabian Gulf Cup as they take on tournament underdogs Yemen in their second match of Group A at the Khalifa International Stadium today.
The opening day performance of the Al Annabi stars, who went into the match as the overwhelming favorites having remained unbeaten in Asia in 2019 after a string of 13 matches, had raised many eyebrows among their teeming supporters and the coach Felix Sanchez boys will have to attempt to soothe many frayed nerves with their expected commanding performance in the must-win match against the Sami al Na’ash’s men, who had earlier suffered a 3-0 defeat in the hands of group leaders the UAE.
"I don’t think our performance level has dropped. We are the Asian champions and we had a good run at the Copa America also, but teams are preparing differently for us now. We will be at our best level again in terms of results I don’t have any complain about the team," Sanchez told reporters at a press conference on Thursday.
"We had a good performance against Iraq, but of course the result wasn’t what we wanted, so we will work to get a good result against Yemen," he added.
Qatar, who rose two places to the 55th position worldwide in the new FIFA rankings published for the month of November, holds a superior head to head advantage over the Yemenis having won seven, drawn two and losing only one of their previous 10 encounters.
The last time the team met, at the 2017 edition in Kuwait, the Sanchez men ran away with a 4-0 victory. Yemen’s only defeat of Qatar was at the 1994 Independence Cup where they won 2-1.
Going into today’s match, Qatar will be without the service of their defensive maestro Bassam al Rawi who was ruled out for the rest of the tournament after suffering a broken leg against the Iraqis.
"We will miss Bassam because he is a very important part of our team, and hopefully we will see him soon. We have players to cover his position and hopefully everyone comes out and we can give the fans something to cheer about," Sanchez said.
"We have to be ready against Yemen – they will want to play hard after their loss to the UAE but we know how important this match is. There are no easy games anymore, but for us we have to be effective," he said.
Sounding confident of their performance against the Yemenis, AFC Asian player of the year 2019 nominee Akram Afif said the team has put the disappointment of the opening match behind them and they are now focused on making the country proud by winning convincingly.
"We are focused on Friday’s match against the Yemenis and we’ve put behind us what happened against the Iraqis. The last match was disappointing. I wouldn’t say we were nervous; we just wanted to win so badly, not just me but all of us. But against Yemen, it doesn’t matter how many goals we score. We plan to win and that’s what matters," the Al Sadd striker said.
For the Yemenis, gaining the much-needed experience is what mattered most at the moment to the young team and they planned to enjoy themselves as they give their best possible performance against the tournament hosts.
"It will be a difficult game against Qatar, especially in this circumstance. The Gulf Cup is a historic tournament and we hope to do better. Qatar will want to win from the kick off, they are an ambitious and a strong team but we want our players to benefit from this experience," coach Al Na’ash, who is in his fourth stint with the national team and has been working without a contract or salary, told the media on Thursday.
"I have been with this team for just four months; it’s not easy to change a team in such a short time. I urge all Yemenis to be patient with this team – the results may be bad but the performance can be judged as acceptable," he said.
The match kicks off at 8:00 pm local time at the Khalifa International Stadium tonight.
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