(MENAFN- The Peninsula) AFC.com
Abu Dhabi: Qatar's head coach Felix Sanchez has credited Al Annabi's ‘impressive team spirit' for their memorable 1-0 victory over former champions Iraq, which sent them into the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 quarter-finals.
Bassam Al Rawi's sublime free-kick in the second half of an absorbing tie helped seal the success, as Qatar racked up a fourth successive victory to guarantee themselves a third AFC Asian Cup quarter-final appearance after reaching the same stage in both 2000 and 2011.
With their last eight encounter against Korea Republic to come at Abu Dhabi's Zayed Sports City Stadium tomorrow, Sanchez feels Qatar's current campaign in the United Arab Emirates points to a particularly bright future for his team especially with the 2022 FIFA World Cup edging ever closer.
'This group of players are doing very good things for Qatar, and we are very proud of them, declared the delighted Spaniard.
'They are a group of players who work very hard for the team and who all work towards the same objective. There is currently a good mix [in the squad] of players who have come from the U-23s and others who are more experienced and who have been in the national team for a longer time.
'They all feel very comfortable when they play together, and we hope we can continue in this way as we do not only have this competition, but also others in the future. We hope to get better and better.
'Of course, this is a competition that we are fully focused on, but we know that it is an opportunity to improve and be ready for the FIFA World Cup in a better condition. That is some distance away, but at the moment the players are doing very well.
Qatar will, however, head into the game with 2015 runners-up Korea Republic without the suspended Abdelkarim Hassan and Assim Madibo, although Sanchez is adamant that their absence is far from a major issue.
'These things happen in a tournament and we are certain that, whichever players come in, we will maintain our level, he said.
'We will need to look at many things before we start to plan properly and assess exactly which players will start the match against Korea Republic who are always one of the top sides.
Opposite number Srecko Katanec was, meanwhile, left to rue a spate of injuries during the game notably to midfielder Humam Tariq which put a distinct dent in his plans.
'I believe the game was an equal one, and we really tried to win, he said.
'We pushed and pushed but were unable to score and we were very unlucky with injuries. The players gave everything, I told them to get their heads up as we have a lot of work to do in the future, although the injuries [against Qatar] definitely affected our plans.
'We undoubtedly have a lot of work to do going forward, but we have quality and we can put together a very solid team as we showed against Qatar.
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