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Playing as a family, Qatar all set to give their all in the final

Doha, Qatar: Qatari players and coach Felix Sanchez emphasised on Al Annabi’s unity and team spirit as they look to win their first Asian Cup title.

Qatar take on Japan in the final at Zayed Sports City Stadium today and Sanchez, who has always talked about his side’s team spirit, said he was proud of his players.

“We are now obviously at the stage of the tournament where the team is in a confident mood and looking forward to starting the game. Obviously, if we win the trophy, it will be Qatar’s biggest achievement in terms of football,” said Sanchez.

“Hopefully, we can have one more good performance. One of the key things for us is that there is a great team spirit, everyone is working together to achieve the same result. The players are determined to get the victory we want by putting in one more huge effort against Japan so that we can make the Qatari people happy once again and make history,” said the Spaniard.

Qatar captain Hassan Al Haydos has worked his socks off in the midfield and also has a goal to his name, a delightful chip over the advancing goalkeeper in the 4-0 thrashing of the UAE in the semifinal.

Al Haydos said the 23 players plus all the technical staff were one big family.

“I can tell you for sure, that I am not worried about myself as what really matters is that the team wins game after game. I think everyone can see the atmosphere among the players,” said the Al Sadd forward.

“Indeed, the 23 players plus all the technical staff are one big family and that is something which reflects positively on the pitch. We are confident and have prepared well for the tournament. We are looking forward to doing even better.”

Almoez Ali meanwhile is on the verge of breaking Ali Daei’s long-standing record of most goals in a single edition. Almoez is level on eight goals with Daei but he said all he cares about was winning matches for Qatar.

“We don’t look at the statistics: You could win 1-0 today and lose 3-0 tomorrow. Everything we did so far is one thing, but what’s coming up is more important.

“The final needs patience, so if we are patient, play well and forget about everything we did so far, only then will we win the final.”

Pedro Miguel, another star performer for Qatar, said the players were motivated for the final against Japan.

“Everybody is now motivated for the final against Japan, because it's a difficult game. Japan have a good team and good players but we have to just continue what we have done until now. Play like a family to get good results in the final and take the final for us,” said Pedro.

Assim Madibo also stressed on the importance of playing as a team.

“It is all about team work; before the tournament we worked a lot on the defensive side of our game as a team, not just the back four. It bore fruit and we did not concede for six games in a row. For us, it doesn’t matter who starts and who doesn’t. This as one of our strengths. There are 23 players in the squad, all ready to give their all.”

The final starts at 5 pm.

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