QFA
The Asian zone qualifiers for the 2022 AFC U23 Asian Cup – to be held in Uzbekistan next year – will kick off in Doha from Monday.
Hosts Qatar will join teams from Syria, Yemen and Sri Lanka in an effort to seal a spot at the finals to be held in Uzbekistan in 2022.
The start of the matches was preceded by press conferences involving coaches of the four teams on Sunday.
Qatar coach Nicola Cordova: Qualifying for finals in Uzbekistan is our goal
Qatar’s Chilean coach Nicholas Cordova said on Sunday: “Our collective goal is to qualify for the AFC U23 Asian Cup finals to be played next year. This will not be easy as all teams in our group are tough sides.
“Playing on home soil is an advantage and an additional incentive for us to do well. Having said that, this does not mean that we will consider ourselves automatic candidates for a place in the finals. We must do our best to achieve the desired goal.
“We have had good preparation since January this year. We concluded our latest training camp just two days ago and we got to play against the Kuwait national team twice last week. My players are motivated and we are ready to compete strongly in the matches.”
And about the opening confrontation against Yemen, Cordova said on Sunday: “The two teams are open books to each other. We have studied the Yemeni team and their tactics during their recent matches. It is a good team that has an effective midfield.”
Yemen coach: Our target is to qualify for the Asian U-23 Championship
Yemen coach Amin Al-Sinani said on Sunday: “We are happy to be here in Qatar. The country is getting close to hosting a major event in December – the FIFA Arab Cup. All the teams in our group have equal chances and opportunities to advance to the finals to be held in Uzbekistan.
“All the teams have legitimate ambition to compete strongly. We know the participating teams well and how their preparations were for this competition. Our preparations were modest due to our circumstances, but I think that the last West Asian Championship – that took place in Saudi Arabia – gave us motivation and helped us prepare well for the finals.”
Syria coach: We are ready and we will try our best to qualify
Syria coach Raafat Muhammad said on Sunday: “We feel we have prepared well. My team hopes to be a strong competitor against all of our rival teams. We are going through a wonderful period of success and we have prepared strongly.
“We thank the State of Qatar for hosting the qualifiers. I think that the chances of qualification are equal for all teams and all four sides have the chance to get a direct qualification ticket.”
Sri Lanka coach: Our task is difficult but we will fight all the way
Sri Lanka coach Mohiuddin Amanullah said on Sunday: “We know we have a tough task in front of us. We suffered from difficult conditions after football was stopped during the Corona pandemic in Sri Lanka. We had a tough time dealing with those circumstances. We entered a camp for two months before the qualifiers. I think that the team is ready to compete in the qualifiers despite the difficult task.
“We know all the teams of the group, especially the Qatari and Yemeni teams. We have played with them before. My players are motivated and we will strive to provide the best possible level in the competition. The first match against Syria will be difficult and certainly strong.”