ABU DHABI (AFP) - Qatar coach Felix Sanchez shrugged off comparisons to Pep Guardiola on Friday (Feb 1) after masterminding a breathtaking Asian Cup victory just three years before the 2022 World Cup on home turf.
Almoez Ali scored a tournament-record nine goals and the Maroons conceded only once as they swept to the first continental title in their history, beating Japan 3-1 in the final.
Ali said he saw shades of Manchester City's Guardiola in Sanchez, who coached Barcelona's youth players before joining Qatar's national academy in 2006 and working his way through the ranks.
"I've been working with him for nine years, he's highly intelligent," said the 21-year-old striker.
"I compare him to Guardiola because he has the same ideas."
But Sanchez told AFP that Ali only made the comment "because I'm there (listening) and he wants to keep playing".
"I've worked with Almoez for a very long time and we have good relationship," the Spaniard said.
"He's very easy to coach because he's a hard worker and he deserves everything that has happened to him in this tournament."
Â
Â
Â
Qatar upset former champions Saudi Arabia, Iraq and South Korea on their march to the final, but those weren't the only challenges they faced.
The Qataris were pelted with shoes and plastic bottles by a hostile home crowd as they beat the United Arab Emirates 4-0 in the semi-finals.
The UAE then lodged a protest over the eligibility of Ali and defender Bassam Al-Rawi which was dismissed just hours before the final.
Sanchez insisted he had "no concerns" about the eligibility row and also dismissed speculation that notoriously trigger-happy Qatar might replace him with a big-name coach before the World Cup.
"I'm very proud to be the Qatar national team coach. Today we made history. I'm only thinking about today. It's a great day for me and the players and the country," Sanchez said.
"There's always news about this person and that person but we're focused on our work and we have the full support of the QFA.
"So no concerns about the World Cup, it's in 2022 and you don't even know what's going to happen in two weeks."
Football: England thrash Montenegro after early scare
"We needed 15 points from seven games, now it is 15 from six - we don't have room for many losses," said Solskjaer. "It is harder than it was before, but we're a very good team, so it will be
It Is Too Early To Board The Solskjaer Bandwagon At
Saswa eyes SPL title glory. Dec 12, 2018, 5:00 am. Subscribe to The Straits Times. call 6388-3838 or click here. Available for iPhones and iPads. Available in Google Play. Back to the top. Singapore;
Home's Saswa is first casualty of SPL season
What They Said: Moyes on top four, Gerrard eyes title glory Saikat 17 March, 2014 Blogroll , David Moyes , English Premier League , General Football News , Liverpool , Manchester United , Site News , Steven Gerrard
Can draw specialists Hearts halt Celtic's push for SPL glory?
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - David Beckham known as his former group LA Galaxy his "circle of relatives" and thanked Los Angeles for embracing him on the unveiling of his statue prior to the Main League Football membership's season-opener on Saturday.
Beckham salutes LA Galaxy and Los Angeles as statue unveiled
"We are all tired after an amazing, crazy and unbelievable night," Pochettino told a news conference Spurs 'still in a dream' after Man City win, says Pochettino Home
Tottenham beat Man City in Champions League: 'We are still in
Singaporean Akbar Nawas has been named the I-League's best coach after leading Chennai City to their first title earlier this month. The Indian team swept seven out of 10 categories at the I-League awards and trophy presentation ceremony at the Taj Corramandel in Chennai on Wednesday.
Singapore's Akbar is greatest coach in I-League, Soccer
Solskjaer warns Man Utd players over complacency and will look to keep that sequence going at Old Trafford on Saturday. "I want players to be confident but not be complacent and take their
Solskjaer warns Man Utd players over complacency | National
EUROPEAN FOOTBALL Liverpool coach Klopp condemns 'disgusting' Salah abuse ahead of Chelsea clash A video circulated on social media ahead of Chelsea's Europa League match at Slavia Prague showed
Liverpool's Jurgen Klopp condemns 'disgusting' Mohamed Salah
Pele remains under "observation" in a Brazilian hospital, his doctors said Thursday, describing the three-time World Cup winner as "clinically stable".
Pele remains under 'observation' in Brazil hospital: doctors
Investigators searching for a lost plane carrying Premier League player Emiliano Sala said on Wednesday an underwater search would begin after they found two seat cushions on the French coast that
Debris From Soccer Player Emiliano Sala's Missing Plane Found
Mario Gotze concedes Borussia Dortmund have a "very difficult" Champions League group but expects the Bundesliga side to exceed last season's poor performance in the competition. Dortmund failed
Gotze predicts Borussia Dortmund success in Champions League
90% of the time, speakers of English use just 7,500 words in speech and writing. These words appear in red, and are graded with stars. One-star words are frequent, two-star words are more frequent, and three-star words are the most frequent. The thesaurus of synonyms and related words is fully
High roller - Wikipedia
New Leicester City manager Brendan Rodgers watched on from the stands as the Foxes beat Brighton 2-1, while Newcastle pulled further clear of the Premier League relegation battle by defeating
Leicester welcome Rodgers with win, Newcastle end Burnley run
Manchester United fullback Diogo Dalot is adamant they can score at Barcelona.United fell to a 1-0 defeat in the first-leg of their Champions League quarterfina Man Utd know we can score in
Fergie: We can match Barca | FOX Sports
0 Kommentare:
Kommentar veröffentlichen