Qatar is tested for the first time after four months of preparation behind closed doors

Two months after “their” World Cup, the Qatar team faces a preparation match without references, with test value, on Friday against Canada in Vienna (12:00, Ecuador time), where the Gulf team will meet again to his audience after four months of training behind closed doors.

In what state of form is the selection of the organizing country? Hard to say, especially after a tough 3-0 loss to Croatia’s under-23 team on Tuesday in a match without spectators, which fueled much concern among Qatari fans.

Since June 2, all national team matches have been held without an audience.

Even sponsors have been forced to stay away from training venues in Spain and Austria, where Qatari players are preparing for their baptism of fire in the opening match against Ecuador (November 20).

Having spent billions of dollars to host the first World Cup in the Middle East, the wealthy country hopes its team will advance to the first round in Group A, where they will meet, In addition to the tricolorto the Netherlands and Senegal.

All about the 2022 Qatar World Cup

This week, it is time for the true test for the team from the Gulf: their first friendlies with the public in Vienna, against Canada on Friday and Chile on Tuesday, should allow us to judge the evolution of the team coached by Félix Sánchez since 2017.

The South Korean example

The Spanish coach agreed with the Qatari soccer federation to keep the 30 players away from the country and from the prying eyes of their rivals, team spokesman Ali Salat told AFP.

“The coach and the federation were in contact during the season. It was agreed upon,” he said.

The players were released by their Qatari clubs in order to prepare as well as possible for the big event, when the great European or South American teams will only recover their stars, mobilized for the club championships, on November 14, close to the date of the tournament.

Qatar meets tight schedule of friendly matches

A deadline that should allow Qatar to prepare as well as possible: Sánchez and his team will briefly return to Doha in early October, before returning to Spain for a new period of isolation prior to the start of the tournament, Ali Salat said.

Qatar is the lowest ranked team in Group A: 48th in the world according to FIFA ranking.

They failed to qualify for the 2018 World Cup but won the Asian Cup in 2019 and reached the semifinals of the Concacaf Cup last year.

With their eyes on Akram Afif, the best player in Asia in 2019, Qatar fans dream of a route similar to that of South Korea in the 2002 World Cup. The co-organizing country of the tournament that year had reached the semifinals.

To have a chance of reaching the round of 16, Qatar must absolutely beat Ecuador in the opening match on November 20, reckons former local player Mohamed Mubarak al-Mohannadi.

Qatari soccer players “are preparing for a World Cup for the first time in their lives,” he told AFP. “Going abroad for so long is difficult, but the players know their mission.”

“The Qatari people will come to support them, but they want to see quality football, of which they feel proud,” he adds. (D)