AFC
Abu Dhabi
Head coach Felix Sanchez believes pressure will not play a part when his Qatar side face Korea Republic in Friday’s eagerly anticipated AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 quarter-final encounter.
Qatar head into the game against one of the tournament favourites having won Group E and then beating Iraq 1-0 in the Round of 16 – a run of victories that has seen them score 11 times and keep four successive clean sheets.
When Qatar last played Korea, Uruguayan coach Jorge Fossati guided Al Anabi to a pulsating 3-2 win at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in June 2017. Hassan Haydos scored a brace and Akram Afif the other goal in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match.
Despite Qatar never having progressed beyond this stage in any of their previous nine appearances at the competition, Sanchez believes his squad is adequately
equipped to cope with the undoubtedly intense nature of an AFC Asian Cup quarter-final tie.
"Up until this point the team has performed well and has achieved some very good results,” explained the Spanish tactician.
"Of course, all of them are professional players and they are used to playing in competitions such as their domestic leagues and the AFC Champions League, so they are used to having this kind of pressure.”
"The pressure of being in a quarter-final is more than welcome and I think they have to enjoy it, and work very hard to have the chance to have at least one more game.
"I want them to feel the pressure in the right way because it is a very important game, but they are absolutely used to these kinds of situations.”
Qatar will be without the suspended Abdelkarim Hassan and Assim Madibo after the key duo picked up their second yellow cards of the campaign during the win over Iraq.
Whilst acknowledging their loss was a blow, Sanchez remained adamant that his squad has sufficient depth to deal with their enforced absence; something which he believes is par for the course in tournament football.
"We know we are going to face a very tough game against what many people believe are one of the favourites for the tournament,” he said.
"Once you reach this far in the competition, it is normal to have injuries or players suspended. We are a group of 23 players, and we have every confidence in all the players who are here.
"Of course, it would be better to have everyone available, but we are sure that we will maintain our
[current level] and be ready to compete against Korea Republic.”
Meanwhile South Korea coach Paulo Bento is interested only in finding a way to progress rather than looking to explain why things may go wrong.
"We need to try to find the best solutions and not the best excuses,” the Portuguese Bento told reporters in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
In Son Heung Min they boast the best player in the United Arab Emirates even if the Tottenham Hotspur forward has a gruelling run of football behind him.
Son played at the World Cup last year, won the 2018 Asian Games with South Korea in September and has been key as Spurs challenged on multiple fronts.
He arrived late in the UAE and has yet to score in two games, turning in mixed performances.
"I’m not concerned about that, it’s not mandatory that Son scores with the national team,” said Bento. "What is the most important for us is that we scored in every game in this competition.
"I think we should have scored more goals because we created a lot of situations in almost all the games we played.”
Abu Dhabi
Head coach Felix Sanchez believes pressure will not play a part when his Qatar side face Korea Republic in Friday’s eagerly anticipated AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 quarter-final encounter.
Qatar head into the game against one of the tournament favourites having won Group E and then beating Iraq 1-0 in the Round of 16 – a run of victories that has seen them score 11 times and keep four successive clean sheets.
When Qatar last played Korea, Uruguayan coach Jorge Fossati guided Al Anabi to a pulsating 3-2 win at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in June 2017. Hassan Haydos scored a brace and Akram Afif the other goal in a 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match.
Despite Qatar never having progressed beyond this stage in any of their previous nine appearances at the competition, Sanchez believes his squad is adequately
equipped to cope with the undoubtedly intense nature of an AFC Asian Cup quarter-final tie.
"Up until this point the team has performed well and has achieved some very good results,” explained the Spanish tactician.
"Of course, all of them are professional players and they are used to playing in competitions such as their domestic leagues and the AFC Champions League, so they are used to having this kind of pressure.”
"The pressure of being in a quarter-final is more than welcome and I think they have to enjoy it, and work very hard to have the chance to have at least one more game.
"I want them to feel the pressure in the right way because it is a very important game, but they are absolutely used to these kinds of situations.”
Qatar will be without the suspended Abdelkarim Hassan and Assim Madibo after the key duo picked up their second yellow cards of the campaign during the win over Iraq.
Whilst acknowledging their loss was a blow, Sanchez remained adamant that his squad has sufficient depth to deal with their enforced absence; something which he believes is par for the course in tournament football.
"We know we are going to face a very tough game against what many people believe are one of the favourites for the tournament,” he said.
"Once you reach this far in the competition, it is normal to have injuries or players suspended. We are a group of 23 players, and we have every confidence in all the players who are here.
"Of course, it would be better to have everyone available, but we are sure that we will maintain our
[current level] and be ready to compete against Korea Republic.”
Meanwhile South Korea coach Paulo Bento is interested only in finding a way to progress rather than looking to explain why things may go wrong.
"We need to try to find the best solutions and not the best excuses,” the Portuguese Bento told reporters in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.
In Son Heung Min they boast the best player in the United Arab Emirates even if the Tottenham Hotspur forward has a gruelling run of football behind him.
Son played at the World Cup last year, won the 2018 Asian Games with South Korea in September and has been key as Spurs challenged on multiple fronts.
He arrived late in the UAE and has yet to score in two games, turning in mixed performances.
"I’m not concerned about that, it’s not mandatory that Son scores with the national team,” said Bento. "What is the most important for us is that we scored in every game in this competition.
"I think we should have scored more goals because we created a lot of situations in almost all the games we played.”