KUWAIT CITY: Gulf Cup champions Qatar are ready to take on three-time
winners Iraq on Tuesday at Kuwait Sports Club Stadium.
Qatar coach Felix Sanchez, who guided his team to a convincing 4-0 win
over Yemen in their Group B opener on Saturday, on Monday said his
players would play aggressively in a bid to go all out for points .
On Saturday, Iraq produced a hard-fought 1-1 draw against Bahrain in
another Group B clash at the same venue.
"My message is we are going to play the second game knowing we have
points to go after. We are aware of that and we are confident of the
possibilities of how well we can do. We have to play a serious game
with a lot of concentration," Sanchez said.
"We have spent the last two days trying to recover from the first game
against Yemen. We've had a couple of light sessions to get ready for
the Iraq clash. They (the players) are very motivated to play the game
on Tuesday.
"Unfortunately for us (Asim) Madibo has suffered an injury and it is
not a good feeling. Hopefully he will recover soon. We have options
for this position. We have a strong squad. We have players who can
replace him. Tonight we will decide who gets in his place. I think we
won't change the tactics," the Qatar coach informed.
Sanchez said getting a winning start on Saturday was a well-deserved result.
"In my opinion it is always a positive thing to start a tournament
with a good result. We got that on Saturday. It is a young team but
they are pros and they have good mentality," Sanchez said.
"The second game is more important than the first one. After this
game, we will know if we can quality for the knockout stage of the
event. My players also know that and they are ready to go out and play
with right mentality," he added.
"We watched the Iraq and Bahrain game the other day. It was a game
between two equal teams. Both teams played to win. Each team has its
own style. For us we have to do well for a win to qualify for the next
stage. We have to play very good. We are aware of that," he said.
It will be very demanding for us from a physical point of view but we
are ready for this important game," Sanchez said on Monday.
