AFC Asian Cup 2023: Qatar aims to defend crown on the land of Lionel Messi’s coronation

Qatar still has a lot of players from the Asian Cup winning squad four years ago, with Almoez Ali, the highest goalscorer in that edition, being the highlight.

Qatar‘s Almoez Ali participates in a training session ahead of the Asian Cup Group A match between Qatar and Lebanon, in Doha, Qatar, Thursday, Jan. 11, 2024. | Photo Credit: AP

Qatar became the centre of global football in December 2022 when Lionel Messi led Argentina to FIFA World Cup glory after 36 years at the Lusail Stadium.

Football, however, lives little in the past, and 13 months later, the Arabian nation looks to become another centre-point of international football, this time at the continental level, hosting the AFC Asian Cup starting tomorrow at the same venue.

“Qatar is ready to welcome the best teams from Asia to what we hope will be the best-ever edition of the AFC Asian Cup. Our stadiums and sporting infrastructure are set to deliver a memorable tournament to players and fans,” Hassan Al Kuwari, the Marketing and Communications Executive Director of the Local Organising Committee, said.

The host will enter the tournament, eyeing not just the bragging rights of hosting it for a record third time but also as the defending champion.

As it faces an inconsistent Lebanon side in the opener, it will look to lick its wounds of the forgettable World Cup campaign, in which it also played the opening fixture, losing it to Ecuador with a 0-2 scoreline.

The team still has a lot of players from the Asian Cup winning squad four years ago, with Almoez Ali, the highest goalscorer in that edition, being the highlight. And his partnership with Akram Afif will be the primary thing for Lebanon to stop.

“I think the 2019 generation has raised our level of expectation -- we are always required to win in any competition we play in,” Qatar’s captain Hassan Al-Haydos told the reporters on the eve of the match.

“It raises the bar and gives us a challenge, but the challenge is the real flavour of football. I hope the new generation of players can deal with this pressure.”

Moreover, the team has moved on from head coach Felix Sanchez who led them to the Asian title and has also shown the door to reputed Portuguese manager Carlos Queiroz, hardly a month before the start of the tournament.

It is here – consistency under a particular coach – that the team remains vulnerable and will be desperate to find quick results under “Tintin” Marquez Lopez, who has strived in the domestic Qatar league, guiding Al Wakrah to promotion in 2019.

“It is a challenge, and not an easy challenge,” the former Espanyol man told reporters, “But what distinguishes this journey is that I have worked in Qatar for a long time, and I know the players and how they act on the pitch.”

Lebanon, on the other hand, has returned to the head coach who took it to its first-ever Asian Cup campaign in 2019 – Miodrag Radulovic.

After a rather inconsistent spell under Aleksandar Ilic and a brief stint under Nikola Jurcevic, the team led by veteran Hassan Maatouk, will now try to improve right from where it ended its maiden appearance in the tournament – a group stage exit.

“Yes, we have had a short time for preparation, but I know this group very well,” he said, “I believe in our talents, and we will do our best to represent Lebanese football.”

The kick-off for the match is scheduled for 7:00 pm local time.