Qatar coach Felix Sanchez and United Arab Emirates boss Alberto Zaccheroni are both feeling confident as they approach an unlikely Asian Cup semifinal meeting.
The two sides dumped out perennial contenders South Korea and Australia respectively in the quarterfinals to boost hopes of claiming a maiden title in 2019.
Japan will play the winner of Tuesday's last-four clash and, having made it this far, the two coaches are now not interested in playing down expectations.
Sanchez feels Qatar has been under pressure throughout the tournament as it builds towards hosting the 2022 World Cup, but he has been delighted with the way his side has thrived in the circumstances.
"I think that one of the key reasons for us reaching this stage of the competition is that the players have been aware of the pressure," Sanchez said.
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"In any competition, you have pressure as you need to get the right results. The team, I believe, has coped very well with the situation so far. Of course, all of us know there is added pressure because it is the semifinal.
"But I think we are feeling confident rather than under pressure ahead of the match. It is a very big game for us and we are very pleased to be in the semifinals of this very important tournament.
"Hopefully, against UAE, we are going to play to our strengths and try to do our very best to continue in the competition."
Meanwhile, Zaccheroni believes host UAE is growing into the tournament, saying: "We had some difficulties in the first group stage games, as well as in the round of 16.
"But we are evolving and our performance in the last game [against Australia] was very good. I am therefore confident that we will be able to beat Qatar with a good performance."
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