Kuwait City: Kuwait football fans are on cloud nine this week and the head coach said they intend to keep the feel-good factor going when they take on Asian champions Qatar at the Jaber Al-Ahmad International Stadium on Friday night. The Khaleeji Gulf 26 hosts are top of Group A with Oman on four points following Tuesday night’s dramatic 2-1 win over the much-fancied UAE. The result has seen tickets for the final group match snapped up in record time with a capacity crowd expected to watch The Blues take on a Qatar side that lost to Oman on the same night. “It was a very difficult match on Tuesday and, of course, the players are tired, but they are optimistic for the match with Qatar,” said Kuwait head coach, Juan Pizzi, at the eve-of-match press conference.
“The fans are understandably happy because we beat a very strong UAE national team. The players are focused on Qatar and we will play tomorrow’s match with the aim to qualify (to the semi-finals).” Kuwait midfielder Mushari Ghannam said his teammates are feeding off the support of the spectators, but pointed out that they are not getting carried away. We are preparing ourselves properly for the match against Qatar,” he said. “They the champions of Asia, a very strong side. But this is the Gulf Cup and it will be different. We will build on the positives from the UAE game, and take care of the negatives to continue to make our Kuwait supporters happy.” (TNN)
