DOHA: After firing Qatar to a convincing 3-1 victory in the opening day of the AFC U-23 Championship currently taking place in Qatar; Captain Abdulakarim Hassan said repeating tonight’s second half display in the remaining Group A matches would certainly help Qatar to advance to the knockout stage. China went to thelocker-roomon halftime with a 1-0 lead against the run of play; However; Hassan spearheaded Qatar’s second half comeback by scoring two decisive goals in less than five minutes, before substitute Ahmed Alaa’ sealed the game on 82 minutes. “Despite having ball position for most parts of the first half, I think we started the game rather slowly, we failed to construct in midfield thus our forwards were isolated in the last third of the pitch”, Hassan said after the game. “The introduction of Ali Asad certainly helped us immensely in the second half, he is askillfulplayer with many attributesandoptions, and as soon as we equalized, we knew we would seal the game eventually”. He added “we promise our fans we will give it our best to go as far as we can and ultimately book a place in Rio, and in order to do so, we cannot afford any sluggish displays”. Qatar will next take on Iran on January 15 before playing Syria on the 18^th of the same month. In an earlier Group A clash, football powerhouse Iran fired two second-half goals to crush Syria 2-0 at the Al Sadd Stadium in what was the first game of the event. The top three sides at the Jan 12-30 event will seal a berth each at the football competition at the 2016 Olympic Games to be held in Rio de Janiero.