Qatar and Yemen face each other to correct their mistakes
Qatar and Yemen will meet at 8:00 p.m. tomorrow at Khalifa International Stadium in a confrontation where Sanchez and Al-Na’ash aspire to correct the mistakes they made in the first round of the 24th Gulf Championship.
Although the Asian champions are more likely to win, the privacy of the Gulf Cup should be considered. The Qatari team is armed with the will and determination to regain the smile of their fans who left them last Tuesday with a little satisfaction and much concern.
The Qatari team depends on the distinguished trio of Al-Moez Ali, Hassan Al-Haidous and Akram Afif to achieve the first three points in the tournament, before the expected confrontation against the UAE in the last round.
Sanchez refused to consider the Yemeni confrontation as easy, saying: “The two teams did not score a good result in the first round. There is no easy match, and we know this well. We expect a high competitive game tomorrow. We will enter in order to win and the players have all the enthusiasm and motivation.”
He added: “Our goal with Iraq was to win, as well as for Iraq who tried and worked hard and won in the end, and we were not lucky.”
On the other hand, Sami Al-Na’ash warned his players not to repeat the mistakes they made against the UAE team in the opening, and called for more concentration and physical and mental presence, especially in the back line.
The Yemeni team is aware that Qatar’s confrontation may not give much optimism compared to the potential of the two teams as well as the results achieved against the UAE, but they hope to reconcile with their fans with a good performance that is well received.
Al-Na’ash confirmed the difficulty and complication of the mission as he said:
“A very difficult match is waiting for us because of the loss for both teams at the opening game. This is the Gulf Cup with all its difficult matches and its own privacy.”
About his expectations on the Qatari challenge, he said: “I hope the team to be in their best shape, and I hope the defenders will be more focused, and we expect the host to attack so I hope we do not make any defensive mistakes.”
Friday’s match is the sixth between the two teams in the history of Gulf championships starting from the Gulf 16 in Kuwait in 2003. Qatar excelled on four occasions against one draw. Al-Adam made 11 goals against two goals for Yemen scored by Ali Nono and Akram Al-Warafi.