VIENNA, Austria: Qatar coach Felix Sanchez has said his team’s training camp in Austria is helping the players build momentum ahead of the national side’s Asian Cup campaign.

Qatar are currently getting ready for the 2019 Asian Cup – the continent’s biggest national team event – to be held in the UAE from Jan 5 to Feb 1.

Sanchez is managing the Qatar squad in Vienna. Qatar team is also scheduled to play friendlies as Sanchez works on his starting line-up for the Asian Cup.

“The team atmosphere is very positive and an enjoyable one,” Sanchez told QFA website in an interview.

“Things are developing as planned. The players have responded well to my plans,” Sanchez added.

“There are fitness drills and then there is football action in double training sessions. This is a great opportunity to build the right momentum moving forward,” Sanchez said.

“The coming days and weeks and even months will be used appropriately to build player fitness and confidence,” he said.

Sanchez defended his pick of players who do not get chances with the clubs.

He said the chosen players provided him the chance to select the ones who would serve the team well. The Qatar coach said he remained confident that when the team plays friendlies is when the new players would show their skills in match situations.

This is the first training camp of the national team following the summer break after the regular season.

“Like I said things are very good and we are a positive bunch in Austria. The players are very excited. They are doing very well. They are in good shape and they know the importance of this training camp,” Sanchez said.

“All of them are also getting ready for the regular season and some of those players will appear in the AFC Champions League quarterfinals (for Al Duhail and Al Sadd) next month,” he added.

“This is a good time for us to work with the players, to train and start preparing the team for the upcoming events. There will be friendly matches in September, October and November. I just feel this bunch needs more time as we work on our technical issues,” he said.

“I have chosen some 35 players. Some of them are young players and then there are others who do not participate regularly with their clubs such as Ibrahim Majid and Hashem Ali,” Sanchez said.

“We have taken the opportunity in this camp to choose more players than usual because not all will be selected. We will keep in mind who is good and who can be good in the coming weeks. What we are trying to do is get the players mentally ready for the challenges ahead,” Sanchez said. “I see huge potential in some of the younger players,” the Spaniard added.

When asked about players appearing for Al Duhail and Al Sadd in the AFC Champions League quarterfinals, Sanchez said: “It is important to have some kind of coordination and cooperation between the national team and the clubs. We all look forward to providing the right atmosphere and provide the best for the players. All this preparation will reflect positively on their performance when these players for country and club.”