Qatar eye points against Serbia as WC 2022 qualifiers resume

Tribune News Network Debrecen (HUNGARY) Asian champions Qatar will be eyeing points against Serbia when the two sides clash in a European qualifier for the...

Tribune News NetworkDebrecen (HUNGARY)Asian champions Qatar will be eyeing points against Serbia when the two sides clash in a European qualifier for the 2022 FIFA World Cup that is just 15 months away.Coached by Felix Sanchez for the last four years, Qatar will play their first match since their impressive run in the CONCACAF Gold Cup, in which they were eliminated in the semi-final against the US earlier this month.Serbia, coached by Dragan Stojkovic, are 29 on the FIFA rankings. Serbia have drawn with Portugal (2-2) and Jamaica (1-1) in their last four internationals. Serbia beat Azerbaijan (2-1) in the other two matches before losing to former Asian champions Japan (0-1).Qatar, on the other hand, have looked in menacing form this year. At their Gold Cup debut, Qatar drew with Panama (3-3) before crushing Honduras (2-0) and edging El Salvador 3-2. Following an entertaining clash, Qatar lost to the US (1-0) in the semi-final.Playing their matches in Europe, Qatar will be taking on Serbia on Wednesday in the first of two games at the Nagyerdei Stadion in the Hungarian city of Debrecen.Sanchez’s boys will next play Portugal on September 4 at the same venue. Hosts of the 2022 FIFA World Cup, Qatar, appear in the qualifiers to gain experience ahead of the football blockbuster next year.Earlier in the year in Group A, Qatar beat Luxembourg (1-0) and Azerbaijan (2-1) before playing a 1-1 draw vs Ireland.Since their return from the US, the Qatari squad assembled in Doha for a short period before heading to Austria, where the Asian champions have been conducting a full scale of training sessions under the watchful gaze of coach Sanchez.The 20,000-capacity venue saw the maroons amass a tally of seven points out of a possible nine in the opening three rounds of Group A of the European section of the 2022 FIFA World Cup qualification against Luxembourg, Azerbaijan and Ireland.On Monday, the Qatar Football Association announced influential striker Mohammed Muntari will miss out on the qualifiers because of an injury.Qatar will take on Luxembourg on September 7 in what would be the last of three internationals within a week’s time.Squad: Saad Al Sheeb, Meshaal Barsham, Mahmoud Abu Nada, Youssif Hassan, Salah Zakaria, Pedro Miguil, Abdul Karim Hassan, Tariq Salman, Ahmed Suhail, Musaab Khidir, Bassam Al Rawi, Homam Al Amin, Khouki Boualem, Mohamed Waad, Assim Madabo. Karim Boudiaf, Ismail Mohamed, Abdullah Al Ahraq, Abdullah Marafiya, Abdulaziz Hatim, Jassem Jaber, Akram Afif, Hassan Al Haydos, Khaled Mohamed, Sultan Al Braik, Ali Asad, Ahmed Moein, Yusuf Abdurisag, Almoez Ali and Ahmed Alaa. Coach: Felix Sanchez.