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Gulf Times - HOSTS Qatar are brimming with
confidence as they face defending football champions Iran today at what is
expected to be a raucous Al Sadd Stadium.
The Gulf Cup champions are hoping that the momentum they have gained from
their 3-0 quarterfinal victory over Thailand can sweep them past the Asian
giants.
"Iran are a well-known team in the world already while we in Qatar are only
on our way to reaching that level," admitted Qatar coach Dzemaludin Musovic.
He is not intimidated by them though.
"For this match, I am certainly not afraid," said the Bosnian. "If we want
to be a team like that, we have to beat them. Hopefully, we can do that and
advance to the final."
The Qatar coach wants to ensure that expectations do not overwhelm his
players. He expects the match to be more difficult and different from other
games Qatar have played so far.
"We have to keep our focus just as we have done in every other game."
According to him, it would be vital for Qatar that they do not give away
free balls in the centre of the pitch and that they had been working on the
defensive side of their game in training.
"Iran are a team that plays very vertically and very fast. It is important
for us to make sure they don’t get many chances," he explained. But at the
same time, such a style of play also offers the opposition more space to
operate. "Their attack is powerful, but they also have some weak points in
their defence, which we should make use of to beat them," Musovic said.
And he expects his team to play like they did against Thailand. "We must
have a more attacking form to win."
The mood in the Iranian camp is not downbeat either. And they are not overly
concerned about partisan home crowd that it expected to throw its weight
behind the maroon brigade.
"We have faced similar situations in the past and came out winners on four
occasions, so that should not make much of a difference. I am sure that we
can do so again tomorrow," said Dr Ali Reza Asadi, the Iran team manager.
Iran, who first won the Asian Games gold at home in 1974, have added three
more winning it in 1990, 1998 and 2002 respectively. Asadi went on to add
that Iran, who overcame China 8-7 on penalties in a tense quarterfinal, are
even going through penalty drills.
"The semi-finals are for the great teams. It will be a difficult and
competitive match," he said. Also playing today for a place in the final are
South Korea and Iraq.
South Korea, who have put gloss over their lacklustre performances with a
clinical 3-0 win last Saturday over North Korea, are looking for their first
Asian Games gold since 1986.
On paper South Korea hold an advantage over Iraq with four wins and nine
draws out of their 15 previous meetings. But the Koreans, who are currently
ranked 33 places above their semi-final opposition, have not seen much of
the recent Iraqi sides and are not counting them out completely.
"We know nothing about them," conceded Pim Verbeek, the South Korean head
coach. "It looks to be a tough game as Iraq has proven its strength by
beating Uzbekistan."
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