Doha: Qatar coach Jose Daniel Carreno believes the lessons from Tuesday’s 2-0 loss to China will be a big positive for his side as they prepare for the next round of the 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifiers.
The Qataris’ 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifiers campaign ended on a disappointing note at the Shanxi Stadium, when goals from Huang Bowen and Wu Lei handed the Chinese a deserving victory.
Despite the defeat, Al Annabi still finished top of Group C thanks to their impressive run of seven consecutive wins before Tuesday, which was more than enough to put them through to the next round of World Cup qualifying and book an automatic berth at the 2019 Asian Cup.
The draw for the final round will be made in Kuala Lumpur next month, where Qatar will find out which teams are standing between them and a spot at Russia 2018.
And with ten crucial matches coming up starting in September, Carreno is optimistic his charges can learn from their loss to China and step up their game when the time comes.
“We have observed the game closely,” he told Qatar Tribune. “There are negatives and positives from this match.
“We will take the positives and work on our weaknesses.
“China employed good tactics (and) we expected a tough fight, no doubt.
“Every game offers something and we have to be positive.
“Now we have time to plan for the next stage.”
Carreno also revealed that his players would be called up for a training camp in May, with a number of friendlies being lined up during that period.
Qatar have never made it to a World Cup and reached the final stage of qualifying for the 2014 edition, but missed out on both the automatic and playoff berths after finishing fourth in Group A behind Iran, Korea Republic and Uzbekistan.
Photo: AFP
Source: the-afc.com