Qatar striker Akram Afif (foreground) along with team-mates at the airport as national team reaches Croatia for a training camp.
Doha: Reigning Asian champions Qatar yesterday reached Croatia for a training camp ahead of the next month’s Gold Cup, where Al Annabi will make its debut.
The Felix Sanchez-coached will undergo preparations for the top challenge before leaving for the US on July 4.
Qatar will feature in the Gold Cup as a guest side and will face Panama in their first Group D match on July 13. They 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. Al Annabi’s participation in the tournament is seen as crucial as the national team continues to prepare for the next year’s FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
“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,” Sanchez said last week.
“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 best possible preparation and will be ready for the challenge,” he added.
