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Hosts to make most of the match with an eye on China in World Cup qualifiers next; Coach Fossati says team won't take it lightly
Ayeni Olusegun
Doha
Qatar has the determination and quality to turn their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign around said national team coach Jorge Fossati on Wednesday at a pre-match press conference ahead of the highly anticipated friendly against 2018 hosts Russia.
The friendly which will be played at the Al Sadd Stadium at 7 pm, will serve as a preparatory for the all-important match against China on November 15.
Fossati stressed the need for the friendly but also pointed out that the most important thing is how the Al Anabi perform against China next week.
"I like to play a team like Russia because it is good for preparations. We have a game against them but we also have China in mind," the Uruguayan said.
"The team will be rotated and as FIFA rule states only six substitutions are allowed. We will use them all. Over the course of my career I have never taken a game lightly. The team will play for a good result against Russia but China is more important," Fossati added.
The former Al Rayyan coach was a confident self despite Al Anabi's shaky start to this qualifying campaign with three consecutive defeats to Iran, Uzbekistan and South Korea, before a slim 1-0 victory against supposed minnows Syria opened the 2022 World Cup hosts'account.
"I am optimistic and I believe in the players. The team to me just started playing definitive games. However, we have to keep working with the clubs in the QSL so as to improve the physical shape of these players," he said.
Russia, who will stage the 2018 World Cup, have had a really disappointing year internationally, winning only two of their 10 matches which were in friendlies against Lithuania and Ghana.
Stanislav Cherchesov was appointed head coach to prepare the team for the World Cup and his reign has not started brilliantly as the Red Army only managed a 1-0 victory against Ghana, drew 0-0 with Turkey and lost 4-3 to Costa Rica.
As he continues to build a squad hopeful of being competitive in the big tournament the summer after next, and with only friendly matches to play in the meantime, Cherchesov has picked an experimental squad to face Qatar and then Romania next Tuesday.
The last time Qatar played a friendly match in Doha, the team played behind closed doors when they hosted Serbia, a decision Fossati said was tactical, apologising for the development and cheekily calling out newly-appointed China coach Marcelo Lippi.
"I apologise for the nature of the game against Serbia. We didn't want to give away our tactical preparation but today's match would be broadcast and we want to ‘help Marcelo because he needs to watch us'."
A win, loss or a draw, Qatar desperately need to put on a good showing against a Russian team ranked 38 places above them on 53 in the current FIFA rankings. A win will serve as a confidence booster for Qatar against the China team which recently appointed 2006 World Cup winning coach Marcello Lippi after their dismal start.
