JAKARTA - Qatar national team coach, Felix Sanchez, revealed that he never targeted The Maroon to qualify for the round of 16 of the 2022 World Cup.
Qatar, who became the first team, will not qualify from the group stage, according to Sanchez, only wants to perform with the best performance and provide the strongest possible resistance in every match played in Group A.
Qatar ended up hosting the first World Cup team to complete the group stage without picking up a single point after losing 0-2 against the Netherlands in the final match at Al Bayt Stadium, Al Khor, Tuesday.
"The loss to the last 16 or grandiose in the quarter-finals has never been our target. We are quite realistic and self-aware, our target is only to be able to compete," Sanchez said at a press conference after the match, citing Antara.
The 2022 World Cup was indeed Qatar's first time appearing in the final round of the tournament, and because of their host status they were forced to seek participation in various competitions to measure their abilities while other teams were fighting for tickets from the qualifying phase.
However, Qatar actually has a relatively positive capital towards the 2022 World Cup, such as winning the 2019 Asian Cup and reaching the semifinals of the 2021 Golden Cup.
"Yes, we were able to lift the Asian Cup trophy and it was extraordinary, but we couldn't bring back performance at that level at this World Cup," Sanchez said.
Sanchez thinks Qatar played quite well against Senegal and the Netherlands, but Azmoen Ali et al's performance was far below standard during the opening match against Ecuador.
With regard to his status as a Qatari coach who failed to get a single point in the World Cup, Sanchez was reluctant to speculate but was sure that the development of state football did not depend solely on him or certain individuals.
"About my future, I feel like this isn't the only game that will decide that," he said.
"One of the positive rights of the Qatari national team is that we have a long-term plan that does not depend on me or certain individuals. So we will rest early, because there are still next tournaments that must be prepared," he continued.
Since it was announced that he won the 2022 World Cup nominations in 2010, Qatar has changed coaches eight times.
Sanchez was the only one to coach over a long period of time since 2017.
"We are quite realistic where we are, you can use statistics at will but after we analyze at that time it becomes important."
Citizen : Gilang Galiartha
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