No remorse for coaching Qatar: Troussier

MiddleeastFootball - Seven months after being appointed as head coach of Qatar national team, French Philippe Troussier looks quite satisfied with the work done at the helm of the side.

“I never regret making the move over here,” he told popular daily Al-Watan today.

“What’s been already achieved in this short spell of time is quite splendid, taking into consideration the unbelievable amount of work we have all faced,” he added.

“At one stage, there was a lucrative offer from English side Southampton to move to Europe, but the way officials here have been providing me with all the needed assets and support convinced me the best is yet to come for the national side.”

Asked about Qatar’s much-publicized naturalization plans recently, Troussier, who coached Japan to e second round of the 2002 World Cup finals replied: “It was normal to witness this kin of reaction world-wide.

“This is a very tricky issue and I do personally still support Qatar in going further ahead with it,” he underlined.

As for the current World cup qualifying campaign, Troussier said, “the result away in Tehran was an expected one, this must not hamper our run-up in the qualifiers.

“The home fixture against Jordan is very capital for our chances to move forward. A victory later this month will enable us to fight till the last qualifying fixture.

“This being said, my only real criticism must go for the Qatari player who, in my point of view, is on an average scale in terms of responsibility and commitment. Local clubs must work on this point at the youth system level, in order to bring about competitive and resilient players able to face challenges lying ahead of them.”