Alkass Digital
Tomorrow’s AFC Asian Cup final will not only pit Qatar against Japan but also two highly motivated and experienced coaches who have successfully guided their respective teams through to the title showdown.
In Felix Sanchez, Qatar have a head coach who has overseen the steady progress of several of Al Annabi’s leading lights – notably Akram Afif and Almoez Ali – thanks to his spells with a host of the West Asian nation’s age-group teams.
The 43-year-old Barcelona native joined the Doha-based Aspire Academy in 2006 before, seven years later, taking charge of the Qatari side which would go on to beat North Korea and claim the AFC U-19 Championship in 2014.
Sanchez subsequently replaced Jorge Fossati in the Qatar hotseat in 2017, a role he now combines with the country’s U-23 side who he guided to a third-place finish at the 2018 AFC U-23 Championship.
Facing him will be Japan’s Hajime Moriyasu who as a player won the AFC Asian Cup in 1992 – a tournament which saw the then-midfielder excel for the Samurai Blue before missing the final through suspension.
Most of the 50-year-old’s playing career was spent with J.League side Sanfrecce Hiroshima where, after making nearly 300 appearances, he returned to coach the club to three top-flight titles between 2012 until 2017.
Moriyasu, who like Sanchez is also in charge of his country’s U-23 team, was assistant to former Japan head coach Akira Nishino at the 2018 FIFA World Cup in Russia, before succeeding Nishino in July last year.