Qatar will take on Iraq today in the first match of the International Friendship Championship, marking the first time the conflict-hit country will be hosting an international FIFA-approved tournament in several years.
The tournament also involves Syria and comes as a result of FIFA lifting the ban on three Iraqi cities – namely Basra, Erbil and Karbala after several months of strenuous efforts put in by Qatar.
The Qatar football team arrived to a grand welcome in Basra yesterday.
With the QNB Stars League given a three-week break before the final round next month, Qatar have fielded a strong team in the Friendship Championship, which will conclude on March 27. Qatar meet Syria on March 24.
“We are very happy to play this tournament and help our Iraqi brothers and sisters enjoy competitive football on their home ground after several years,” Qatar coach Felix Sanchez said at his pre-match press conference.
“We will be playing our matches in all seriousness despite the fact it is a friendly tournament,” the Spaniard added.
Sanchez said Qatar would field their best 11 for the match.
“We will field our best players. All of them have been involved in the QNB Stars League and several are part of the Asian Champions League. Therefore they are not short of match fitness.”
He added that Iraq are a strong team and will surely try to impress their fans with a victory.
‘They will come out strongly against Qatar. We will have to be at our best, both physically and technically,” he said.
This is the first engagement for the national side after the Gulf Cup in January which was won by Oman.
Qatar had a three-day preparatory camp in Doha before flying to Basra yesterday where they were received warmly by Iraqi football officials and fans.
Later they trained under the guidance of Sanchez with the focus on technical skills.
Qatar squad: Saad al-Dosari, Hassan al-Haydos, Akram Afif, Pedro Miguel, Salem al-Hajri, Abdulkarim Hassan, Almoez Ali, Karim Boudiaf, Ismail Mohamed, Bassam al-Rawi, Sultan al-Barek, Abdulaziz Hatem, Youssef Hassan, Asim Madibo, Ahmed Alaa, Moayad Hassan, Mohamed Alaa, Mohamed al-Bakri, Ahmad Fathi, Ahmed Moin and Tariq Sulaiman.
