Tomorrow the road to 2022 starts for Qatar with their first game against Lebanon at the Hazza Bin Zayed Stadium in Al Ain. Spanish boss Felix Sanchez has revealed that his side is confident ahead of the tournament, but need to work hard to realise their aspirations of reaching the latter stages of the tournament. 

So far the squad has faced minimal disruption on their trip to the UAE, one of the countries that have placed Qatar under a diplomatic blockade since July 2017. For now, Felix Sanchez and his young squad and have been focusing on the task at hand from their training base in Al Ain. 

“We go to the UAE to compete against everyone, any national team. The players have been working very hard we have played many games, against strong sides and our target is to arrive and to play against any team that we need to face. We need to give a good image in terms of the way we want to play and to reach as far as we can.”

It’s a big 2019 in prospect for Qatar who is taking part in the Asian Cup & the Copa America, which will be held in Brazil. For now, the Spanish coach is looking forward to their first game in the UAE. 

“This tournament is big for us. This will be an experience for us to prepare for the summer (Copa America 2019) and preparing for 2022. In terms of younger players, we are going to play a tournament and play the players that in our point of view that give us the best options to play games.”

Qatar has brought a young side to the UAE with the view of blooding a talented generation that will eventually make up the core of the 2022 national team. Sanchez rejected the notion that he is playing young players for the sake of it, insisting that Qatar is looking to progress in the tournament. 

“We are not looking at the age of the players, we are looking at the ones who can help us the best in the game.”

Heading into the tournament, Qatar gained some credible results including a victory against Switzerland and a draw with Iceland, Sanchez revealed confidence is high in the group but noted that Qatar will have to work hard if they are to impress on the continental stage. 

“The confidence is high, it is important to know that we can compete against stronger teams. At the same time, the players need to be realistic to know that for us, every game to get results we need to give 100%. Nowadays all the teams are well organized and they know your weaknesses and strengths so you need to be ready to face every game at 100%. These results have given the group motivation that they can do things in this competition.”

Looking at the group, Sanchez is expecting a challenge from the likes of Lebanon, North Korea and Gulf rivals Saudi Arabia but is sure Qatar is fully prepared to give their all in the Asian Cup. 

“Our target is to compete and win games, our main target is to reach the next round. It’s difficult as the other teams have good squads. North Korea and Saudi have been to World Cups in recent years, whilst Lebanon are doing well in the FIFA rankings we know it will be tough but our target is to go forward in the group stage.”

After showing so much improvement under Sanchez it is now time for the Qatar team to stand up and be counted. Staring with their opening game against Lebanon.