It is the most controversial World Cup host ever: Qatar. A team that, because of this role, would be represented in the final for the first time. Where is the team in terms of sports?

coach

before this Felix SanchezThe 46-year-old, having moved to the desert state of Qatar in 2006, trained young talent at FC Barcelona’s famed academy “La Masia”, where Messi, Iniesta and Xavi began their world careers. At the age of 30, the native Catalan was hired at the famous Aspire Academy in the capital, Doha. Established in 2004, it is the country’s largest academy of sports talent and one of the largest training centers in the world for top athletes.

As a youth coach for various junior national teams, Sánchez was to lay the foundation for the “World Cup Project” in one of the largest and most modern football centers. In 2017 he took over the responsibility of the senior national team and thus slipped. Head coach role for the first time. Sanchez has known many of today’s national players over the years, some of whom have made their way to the senior team. This was followed by a surprise win at the Asian Championships in 2019. After years of intense preparation, Sanchez and his team must prove they are up to the big task at the World Cup in their own country.

star

A lot of Qatari sport depends on it Akram Affi, The attacking player, who prefers to play on the left flank, plays for Al-Saad SC in Qatar’s First Division, which may not even reach the level of the German Second Division. Nevertheless, he is the hope of the Qatar national football team. In winning the 2019 Asian Cup by far the biggest success in the club’s history, Afif scored eleven goals and scored once himself. He was the top scorer. Just like the Gold Cup and FIFA Arabian Cup 2021, where Qatar reached the semi-finals.

His father, a former Somali international, immigrated to the Emirates in the 1980s. Akram Afif made his debut for the Qatar national team in 2015. He has also worked in European professional football. For example, in Spanish club Sporting Gijón, for which he played nine games in La Liga, in FC Villarreal and in Belgium for Qatari farm team KAS Eupen. He didn’t do anything great. In 2018 he returned to the domestic league. The World Cup is his chance to draw attention to himself.

players to watch

almoz ali, 26, is the team’s top scorer. With nine goals in seven matches, he led Qatar to the Asian Cup and surpassed the record held by Iran’s Ali Dei. In all, Almoez Ali has 39 goals to his name, just two behind Qatar’s record goalscorer Mustafa Mubarak (41). Together with Akram Afif, he forms a strong and dangerous pair.

The captain leads the team Hassan Al-Haydos, The 31-year-old has been a national player for 14 years and has 160 international matches. This makes him a record player in his country. Al-Hados is considered a standard specialist.

Specific

Qatar is the only tournament newcomer. Another 31 teams have reached at least one World Cup final. Qatar laid the foundation for a successful World Cup with the establishment of the Aspire Academy in 2004. Emirates wants to use the World Cup to improve its image: boycott calls, working conditions, male guardianship, climate protection, prohibited homosexuality, human and women’s rights, corruption – all issues, if Qatar has its way , then they will be addressed should the Winter World Cup go into the background.

World Cup prospects

Qatar is the great unknown. Like the team in Group A, probably the weakest, with Netherlands, Ecuador And this Senegal Cuts cannot be predicted. The team last retired to Schwechat outside Vienna to prepare for the World Cup. The lockdown of more than three months ended in September. Most recently it was 0:2 against Canada and 2:2 against Chile. The team garnered attention in 2019 with successes like a surprise win in the Asian Cup.

The players are similar in that they are active in the domestic league. This is where the ball rests. Unlike most countries, which have little preparation time, Qataris can train carefully. In the history of the World Cup, only one host has been eliminated in the preliminary round – South Africa 2010. Qatar wants to stop it. In the struggle for power and influence, however, the Qatari sports outcome plays only a minor role.

Source: sportschau.de