Almoez Ali gave Qatar the lead in the 31st minute and substitute Ahmad Abdelmutaal added the second in second half added time in a match which was played behind closed doors.

Qatar have been enjoying a rich vein of form in their buildup to the AFC Asian Cup, having defeated - among others - Switzerland, Ecuador and China PR in friendlies.

Qatar, who are in Group E, will face Lebanon on January 9 in their opening AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 match. They will then face DPR Korea on January 13 before concluding their group stage campaign against three-time champions Saudi Arabia four days later.

Football fans in the UAE will now be greeted by grand footballing imagery ahead of the tournament which kicks off next month, when 24 nations compete for the most prestigious prize on the Continent in the biggest sporting event in West Asia.

Palestine will be playing at this level for only the second time and a January 6 clash in Sharjah against the Syrians could prove decisive for qualification to the knockout stage from a group which also includes reigning champions Australia and Jordan.

“The first game in a tournament is always the most difficult,” Ali told the-AFC.com in an exclusive interview.

“When you start a tournament, you are looking for rhythm. The rhythm in training or during a preparatory match is not the same as the rhythm you are supposed to have in a proper match situation,” Ali added.

With less than two weeks to go for the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 kick-off, players are wrapping up their club commitments. For some, they leave on a high, be it an local rivalry triumph or impressing on the global stage. Birthday celebrations were in order and so were family days out. What is left is just to work hard and look for glory in the UAE!

The goalkeeper was just 18 years old when he was included in the India squad for the 2011 edition when the Blue Tigers were drawn alongside continental heavyweights Australia, Korea Republic and Bahrain.

And although Gurpreet got no game time as the South Asians ultimately lost all three of their matches, he looks back on the experience as a positive one that helped him progress in his career.

Now in his second spell at the helm, Arnold will oversee his country’s challenge at the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 hoping to surpass the quarter-final showing in South East Asia and build on his own success as a coach in the ensuing dozen years.

““It feels great,” he told the-AFC.com of his return to the competition. “In 2007 I was the interim coach and I probably didn’t deserve to be in that job and that role at that time, but I have gone away and worked hard in club land and I feel that I deserve the role this time. So, I am really looking forward to the challenges ahead.

“It was our first time in Asia and it was our first time in a major tournament in Asia, so we learnt a lot from it. We learnt that you need to prepare properly, that there are no easy games, that you need to be mentally switched on for every game, and that you need to adapt to the conditions to the style of game that you play.”

The 30-year-old shined the brightest for Kyrgyz Republic in their road to the AFC Asian Cup, bagging 10 of his country's 14 goals in the qualifiers as they pipped Myanmar and Macau to qualify from Group A alongside India.

Nationality: Kyrgyz Republic
Date of birth: 11/12/1988
Position: Forward
Current club: Atyrau (Kazakhstan)
Previous clubs: Abdish-Ata Kant (Kyrgyz Republic), Taraz, Aktobe, Kairat, Kaisar (Kazakhstan), Giresunspor (Turkey), Radnički Niš (Serbia), Sisaket, Sukhothai (Thailand), Ska Khabarovsk (Russia)