Qatar eye history as they take on South Korea

Doha, Qatar: After their superb victories against Saudi Arabia in the group phase and Iraq in the last 16, Qatar face their toughest rival yet when they take on South Korea in the quarterfinal on Friday.

The Koreans, featuring Tottenham Hotspur star Son Heung-min, are among the favourites for the title but this young Qatar side have plenty of belief. However, they have to be at their best to stand any chance of progressing to their first ever semifinals.

Qatar have shown plenty of character in keeping their calm and composure at the face of constant abuse and booing from the crowd and they can expect more hostility from the stands in the quarterfinal as well.

Felix Sanchez’s men have proved that they are focused on the job at hand and they need to keep their concentration against the talented Koreans.

Qatar’s goal machine Almoez Ali could not add to his tally of seven goals in the match against Iraq and will be keen to break the mark of Ali Daei as the top goal scorer.

In Almoez, Boaulem Khoukhi, Akram Afif and Bassam Al Rawi Qatar have found heroes everywhere to the delight of their fans and coach Sanchez was all praise for his players.

“This group of players are doing very good things for Qatar, and we are very proud of them,” declared the Spaniard.

“They are a group of players who work very hard for the team and who all work towards the same objective. There is currently a good mix of players who have come from the U-23s and others who are more experienced and who have been in the national team for a longer time."

 “They all feel very comfortable when they play together, and we hope we can continue in this way as we do not only have this competition, but also others in the future. We hope to get better and better,” said Sanchez.

Qatar would be handicapped by the suspension to left back Abdulkarim Hassan and defensive midfielder Assim Madibo, but Sanchez was not thinking too much into it.

“These things happen in a tournament and we are certain that, whichever players come in, we will maintain our level,” he said. “We are going to try and play our own game, and although we know we are facing one of the top teams, we want to show that we can compete against the very best in Asia.”

While Abdulkarim has been a standout performer defensively and offensively, particularly in the match against Saudi Arabia and Iraq, Madibo’s combative style has helped Qatar immensely in the midfield.

Though Qatar have more creative midfielders, Madibo is the best when it comes to playing the role of an enforcer.

Sanchez has plenty of other options, but he preferred to keep his cards close to the chest.

The versatility of Khoukhi — who can play in a number of positions in defence or midfield — and Sanchez’s liking for horses-for-courses style when it comes to formations means Qatar won’t be too much bothered by the loss of Abdulkarim and Madibo.

Korea coach Paulo Bento said he was expecting a tough game.

"It will be a very difficult game. They are very good offensively and defensively. This is a team that has worked together for a long time with a coach (Felix Sanchez) who knows the players very well.” said Bento.

"They have players who are very good technically, their strikers and wingers are also very fast. It will not just be about Almoez Ali (leading scorer with seven goals) as Qatar are a very strong unit as a team."

Bento said South Korea need to assert their style if they want to contain Qatar.

"We must play as we like to play. We must control the ball, dominate in the offensive part of our midfield. There must be good reaction when we lose the ball and we must also control the space behind our defensive line."

Bento added that he didn't think fatigue would be a problem for his side.

"What we are going to do today in training is try to recover all the players as well as possible. We have information on Qatar that we will share with the players during training but it will be practice without intensity.

"Tomorrow, of course, we hope all of them are in a good condition. It is not the first time they will play after just three days. Both teams are in the same condition and that is why we have to control the initiative of the game the way we like it."