Alkass Digital
Head coach Marquez Lopez credited his Qatar players with the team’s perfect defensive record in the competition ahead of their AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023™ Round of 16 clash against Palestine at Al Bayt Stadium on Monday.
The 2019 champions are one of two teams in the tournament who have yet to concede a single goal, alongside Thailand. Qatar’s record since the previous edition has been impressive, having only conceded one goal in their last 10 AFC Asian Cup matches; a Takumi Minamino strike in the UAE 2019 final which the Qataris won 3-1.
This time around, the hosts started their journey with a 3-0 win over Lebanon, then added two more clean sheets in back-to-back 1-0 victories over Tajikistan and China PR to top Group A and book a date against Palestine.
“There are no easy games in football, especially in tournaments like this,” said Lopez.
“We are happy with how we have played in the group stage. We were very competitive in every game, there are small changes to make and improve on, but overall, we played well and tried to give all players an opportunity to play."
“I love attacking football, but we always have to find the right balance between attack and defence. It is to the credit of the players that we have yet to concede a goal, because they implemented my ideas on the pitch very well, so I’m thankful for them for absorbing the ideas well and being disciplined.”
“We see Palestine as a team that plays with bravery and power. We know their strengths and we will do our best to deal with them. We have a lot of respect for them as a team, but we want to do everything to get the result.
“I trust my players, not 100%, but 200%. I trust the work they do in training. It will be a difficult match, but we want to qualify to the next round. As always, our main principle is to take it one match at a time.”
In their third appearance in the competition, Palestine were finally able to pick-up their first AFC Asian Cup win, an emphatic 3-0 victory over Hong Kong, China on the final matchday that helped them finish third in Group C and book their place in the knockout stage for the first time in their history.
An Oday Dabbagh brace scored either side of a Zaid Qunbar strike secured the historic win for the Palestinians, and with a new achievement unlocked, head coach Makram Daboub believes his side will play without pressure against a Qatar team weighed down by expectation from the home supporters.
“We are all united as team, we have a close relationship and that shows in the way we play on the pitch,” said Daboub. “We have been fully focused on qualifying and getting the first win in Palestine’s history in the Asian Cup, not thinking about whether we face Qatar or any other team. It was very important for us to be in the Round of 16, so we were prepared to face any team.
“They are the home team and will have a lot of fans in the stadium, so there will be more pressure on them. We have already achieved our primary objective in this tournament so we will play with no pressure. We will do our best and play the same way we did in previous matches, keeping our upward trajectory. In 90 minutes of football, anything can happen.”
Palestine’s victory against Hong Kong, China came after two impressive performances in their opening matches that saw them create and miss many chances, including a missed Tamer Seyam penalty in the second match which they lost to the UAE 3-1.
“There is a ticket to the quarter-finals at stake. We respect Qatar as reigning champions and hosts, but that doesn’t mean we are here just to be here. We want to win and everything is possible, we want to fight for our chances and hopefully we can win.
“We played 5-6 friendly matches before the tournament where we scored goals but also missed a lot of chances, we faced some challenges, but we are convinced with the level of work we are doing. In the qualifiers we scored a lot of goals. I would say it is just down to lack of concentration at times or bad luck, but thankfully the goals came against Hong Kong, China at the right time and hopefully we can continue the same way."