Debrecen, HUNGARY: Qatar coach Felix Sanchez on Tuesday said he expects a ‘difficult clash’ against Serbia when the two teams face-off in a 2022 World Cup European qualifier on Wednesday.

Speaking at a press conference, Sanchez said on Tuesday, “We will face a team that has a well-established reputation as they played well against Portugal earlier this year. Serbia has excellent players who can change the outcome of any match at any time.”

Qatar play their ‘home’ fixtures on European soil to facilitate shorter travel times for their group opponents. As the FIFA World Cup 2022 host nation, Qatar has already qualified for the tournament.
The Asian champions join Group A – alongside UEFA Euro 2016 winners Portugal, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, and Azerbaijan.

He added: “Despite the difficulty of the encounter, I am confident that we will be able to match the Serbs as we aim to fight all the way. We prepared with a short training camp in Austria where we followed the Serbian team’s matches. Like I said, we are confident as we feel our players will do their best in this match.”

“We will tackle their strength points and try to dictate the course of the game. We have to be focused when facing sides of such a high calibre. These games will help us get better match practice as we prepare for the 2022 FIFA World Cup,” Sanchez said on Tuesday.
“Our aim is that we will play the World Cup matches with ready players,” the Qatar coach pointed out.

Reigning Asian champions Qatar are set for two headline fixtures as they host Serbia on September 1 and Portugal on September 4 and respectively in the European preparations for the 2022 FIFA World Cup at the Nagyerdei Stadion in the Hungarian city of Debrecen.
The 20,000-capacity venue saw the maroons amass a tally of seven points out of a possible nine in the opening three rounds of Group A of the European section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification against Luxembourg, Azerbaijan and the Republic of Ireland.

When asked about playing two consecutive matches with solid opposition, Sanchez said: “The draw is what put us in this path, but we have an approach on how to play in a certain way and deal with such matches. We have players who can deliver,” the coach said.

“Participation in the European qualifiers has helped us develop the Qatari national team and gain more experience through exposure to different European schools of football,” he said.

“The team’s participation in the 2019 Copa America and the superior account that the team presented in the last Gold Cup was an important stage for the team’s growth,” Sanchez said.
“And now our participation in the second phase of the European qualifiers is also important for the team as was participating in the first phase several months ago,” Sanchez said.

“We respect Serbia as a football nation of great tradition, but at the same time, we are not afraid of any side. We are ready to face tough competition,” the coach said.

“We seek to achieve the maximum possible benefit from participating in the European qualifiers and interacting with the different schools, which is in our best interest in the end,” Sanchez concluded.

On September 4, Qatar faces Portugal before wrapping up the European tour with a match against Luxembourg on September 7.