European qualifiers significant step to help the team get stronger: Sanchez
- 3 years ago
DOHA: Coach Felix Sanchez on Wednesday said QFA’s decision to feature in European qualifiers as a guest team would benefit the Qatar team’s preparation ahead of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
On Tuesday, it was announced that Qatar will appear in the European qualifiers as a ‘guest team’, a step that France adopted ahead of Euro 2016.
“For me, this is another great step that QFA has taken to help improve our national team,” Sanchez said on Wednesday.
“This will help us reach the 2022 FIFA World Cup in the best possible manner by playing in European qualifiers. All these games will be exciting and interesting.
“There’s every chance we could be playing against European sides at the World Cup in 2022. We are also playing Copa America and the CONCACAF Gold Cup next year. This is good planning,” he said.
“We are going to play teams, not just from Asia now. This will be good preparation for us going into the World Cup.
“We have a fantastic opportunity to play against top sides and improve our game,” Sanchez said.
“What I can say is all the teams in our group are strong. We have Portugal who are the Euro champions. Portugal will be favourite in this group. It will be a good game against them”.
“We will play a team that is at the highest level. It will be good for us to play against them. It will be an excellent experience for us. We will have the chance to play highly competitive teams”.
“Ireland and Serbia will be great games as well. All these sides are ranked high. I think it is a great opportunity to play against them soon,” Sanchez said.
The Asian champions will join Group A – alongside UEFA Euro 2016 winners Portugal, Serbia, Republic of Ireland, Luxembourg, and Azerbaijan.
Qatar will play their ‘home’ fixtures on European soil in order to facilitate shorter travel times for their group opponents. As the FIFA World Cup 2022 host nation, Qatar has already qualified for the tournament and therefore their results will not count towards the final standings in UEFA qualifying.
Source: Source
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