Rio de Janeiro, 23 June 2019 - Qatar are within touching distance of Copa America quarterfinals, but for that, they need to beat Lionel Messi’s Argentina. Such a scenario could easily have been passed over as a wild dream a few months back, but now, for this brave, young Qatar, anything is possible.
Especially with Argentina looking nothing like Argentina. Messi led Albiceleste lost to Colombia in the first match and needed a penalty from their star forward to escape with a draw against Paraguay.
If Colombia beat Paraguay by more than a goal, Qatar need just a draw against Argentina to book their place in the last eight. Difficult, but not impossible.
Qatar came back from two goals down to hold Paraguay in their opening match and that fightback has done wonders to their confidence. In the second game against a star-studded Colombia, Qatar came agonisingly close to securing a draw before falling to an 85th-minute goal from Duvan Zapata.
That defeat was surely a painful blow but Qatar have gained much in terms of experience and will face Argentina with no fear.
Messi has shown time and again that he still can find his touch at the blink of an eye and tear any opponents to shreds, but rest assured that Qatar will give it their all and make life difficult for the two-time world champions.
Qatar will miss hard tackling midfielder Assim Madibo and left back Abdulkarim Hassan to suspension — both got yellow cards in both the matches — and even though Al Annabi have shown in recent past that their strength lies in team spirit and not individual brilliance, the absence of the key duo will be felt.
Sanchez is likely to bring in Karim Boudiaf in place of Madibo while Pedro could move to a three-man back line with Hamad Ismael taking his place on the right. This could also mean that Tarek Salman, who also can play in central defence and on the wing, will move to the left back position.
Sanchez, however, will be wary of the attacking threat of Argentina and can’t afford to fall into an over defensive mindset.
Qatar need to stop Argentina from dominating the midfield and bring their attacking duo of Almoez Ali and Akram Afif into the game as much as they can.
“We want to be protagonists on the pitch, our players have the quality to do that,” said Qatar coach Felix Sanchez. “We’re a team that never gives up.”
The problem for Qatar is that Argentina have too many proven match-winners such Sergio Aguero, Angel Di Maria and young stars like Lautaro Martínez, Leandro Paredes and Giovani Lo Celso in their side and they can’t allow even a small lapse in concentration.
Qatar have shown that they belong in the first two matches and now it’s time for them to make history.
