Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: Qatar coach Jose Carreno is confident that the reigning Gulf champions’ 4-0 friendly win over Singapore has given his side the ideal preparation ahead of their 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifying match against Bhutan on Thursday.
The four-time ASEAN champions defended resolutely in a goalless first-half of last Friday’s friendly in Doha before the hosts found the target four times after the interval to run out comfortable winners.
And Carreno is expecting more of the same when Qatar welcome the surprise second round qualifiers to the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Thursday as the Gulf side plays their second Group C match after scoring deep into second-half stoppage time to open their campaign with a last-gasp 1-0 victory in the Maldives.
"The friendly match against Singapore was very useful because we know that Bhutan will play in the same way. We knew that the Singapore defence would be very strong as we saw that after they drew with Japan,” the 52-year-old Uruguayan told reporters.
Bhutan will need a similarly heroic defensive display that the Lions showed during their impressive stalemate in Saitama if they are to avoid a hat-trick of heavy defeats in Hong Kong (7-0) and at home to China (6-0) if they are to stop Qatar scoring just as many as they did against Singapore if not more.
“Our team is ready for the match against Bhutan and we hope to continue our journey in the qualifiers with a win,” continued Carreno, who led Al Nassr to the 2013/14 Saudi Arabian league title before spending a season with Qatar Stars League side Al Arabi prior to taking helm of Al Annabi.
Photo: AFP