From left: Qatar’s Ahmed al-Saadi. Centre: Qatar U-19 National team director Abdullah al-Hanzab. Right: Qatar U-19 coach Felix Sanchez Bas.
By Our Correspondent/Yangon, Myanmar
After a third consecutive stellar performance in which he netted twice to help Qatar beat Oman 2-0 and progress to the quarter-finals of the AFC U-19 Championship , Qatar’s Ahmed al-Saadi said he is hopeful that Qatar is capable of beating China and book a place in the semifinals.
“After finishing as group winners, I think we have demonstrated that we are capable of taking on any team, C
hina are a decent side, but we believe that we will be a match for them”.
“It was important that we scored early in the second half, that really helped the us settle our nerves, knowing that we had to score goals today,” said the man who tops the Qatari top scorer list with four goals in three matches so far in the tournament.
“Although they huffed and puffed for an equalizer after we scored, we came out again and got another goal, which was really great”.
“From the beginning we knew we had some tough teams in this group but we are united as a group so I am happy with the result today”
Al-Hanzab: We will not lose our intensity
Qatar U-19 National team director Abdullah al-Hanzab on Tuesday said he is proud of his team’s performances at the 2014 AFC Cup for U-19 teams, which was manifested in Qatar finishing the group stage atop of Group D ahead of DPR Korea, Iraq and Oman respectively.
“It is a great result, but what’s more important is the way this team is performing, our progress rate is just impressive”.
“The players gelled well in the preparation period. winning matches gives any team confidence. We feel the same way,” he added.
“The players will continue training after we return to Nay Pyi taw where we face China on Friday. We do not want to lose intensity before this key match. Everyone will be on the training pitch,” he said.
“We have to be positive and play an aggressive game. It will be a different match compared to our group stage matches, a lot is riding on this match”.
Jubilant coach Sanchez shifts attention to China game
Coach Felix Sanchez Bas believes Qatar are improving with every game after Tuesday’s 2-0 win over Oman secured a place in the quarter-finals of the AFC U-19 Championship.
Midfielder Ahmed al-Saadi reached the four-goal mark in the tournament so far to send Qatar back to Nay Pyi Taw, where they are set to take on China next Friday for a place in the semi-final.
“We have improved gradually in every match so far in the tournament, we are displaying the right type of football,” Sanchez said in the post match press conference.
“My kicked off matters today rather nervously, leading to various defensive errors that could have cost us dearly, but we managed to gather ourselves pretty quickly and soon demonstrated that we were clearly the more superior side of the two”.
He lamented the tight scheduling of the tournament in which his side is forced to play three games in just five days, “I don’t think it’s natural for players at this young age to be exposed to such gruelling circumstances, it makes our job very difficult, as it becomes easier said than done with every match to recover, weather it is mentally or physically.”
“Now we have to shift our focus on the next match against China, it is an important game, but we will try not over-motivate the players, they have to realize that its just another match in which we have to do our best to get the result we are looking for”.
