Qatar coach Fahad Thani is seen with national team player Hassan Al Haydos of Al Sadd club during a team training session in Doha last month. Qatar will play Palestine in a friendly on April 17, it was confirmed by Qatar Football Association (QFA) yesterday.
DOHA: Qatar today will assemble for a short training camp for their friendly against Palestine later this week, coach Fahad Thani said yesterday.
Qatar take on Palestine on April 17 at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium, a Qatar Football Association (QFA) statement said yesterday.
The friendly against Palestine is part of Qatar’s preparations for two key 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying matches to be played in June.
On June 4, Qatar host Iran at the same venue before heading to Uzbekistan for the last Group A, Asian Zone, qualifying match on June 18.
The match on April 17 in Doha will start at 6:45pm, QFA said.
The forthcoming clash will be the first match for Qatar since their hard-fought clash against hosts Korea in a 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match in Seoul on March 26.
Under Fahad, Qatar has played a series on friendlies and won all of them.
Qatar played two friendlies - beating Thailand 1-0 and Egypt 3-1 - last month. In February, Qatar beat Malaysia 2-0 in a 2015 Asian Cup campaign after edging Lebanon in a friendly in late January.
“We will be playing a series of matches before our next World Cup qualifying matches,” Fahad said. “After the matches in June, we will have more games for our team so that the players build capacity for greater number of games,” he added.
“We are in the process of finalising a list of friendlies against Asian countries and European teams. This list will include matches to be played until the end of next year,” he added.
“We will also have a second string so that the players who don’t get a game with the seniors, can go and appear for the Qatar B team,” Fahad said at football headquarters in Aspire Zone
“The B team will also help us prepare a back-up side for the senior team,” he said.
Fahad said the backroom staff will be closely monitoring the progress of the players and their fitness as the national team approaches the remaining two qualifying matches in Group A.
Qatar, who are below Uzbekistan, Korea and Iran in Group A, must win their two games in June. Fahad said not all was lost for Qatar.
“We still have chance to qualify. We have two matches and two wins can make a lot of difference in the end,” Fahad said. “God Willing, we will win,” he added.
“We must deal with situations realistically,” he said. “In order to achieve greater success, we have to build a strong team in the future,” he said. “We promise our fans that we will fight in the last two matches,” he said.
THE PENINSULA
