Ali Asad is pushing for a place in the Qatar side as the AFC U-23 Championship hosts prepare to take on fellow opening day winners Iran in Group A today. China had stunned hosts Qatar in Tuesday’s tournament opener after taking a half-time lead at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.
But after Asad was introduced at half-time, captain Abdelkarim scored twice while substitute Ahmed Alaa sealed the 3-1 win in the final 10 minutes for Felix Sanchez’s side. “We all knew after the first game we would not have qualified or be out, but we were aware we needed three points to have a better chance to go through,” said Qatar coach Sanchez. “We did the work and have the three points and now we have a game against Iran which will also be very tough against another team with a new profile and strengths. I hope in the second game we are going to grow and do better.”



Qatar’s coach Felix Sanchez

Iran also made the ideal start to the tournament with a 2-0 win over Syria on Tuesday as striker Arsalan Motahhari opened the scoring before creating the chance for team-mate Mehrdad Mohammadi to seal the three points.
“Arsalan is a great player, he’s a young man who gives his 110% to the team, he always tries his best,” said Iran coach Mohammad Khakpour. “He had a great performance against Syria and you will hear more about him in the future. We are going to have two more tough games, especially against Qatar. But every game for us is a final and we are looking at each game individually.”
Meanwhile, China will be without Xu Xin for today’s meeting with Syria after the midfielder was sent-off in the closing stages of Tuesday’s defeat by Qatar as both sides seek a win to give their hopes of a place in the knockout phase a boost.
‘We will look at the video of the Iran and Syria game and we will look at some technical things,” said Fu. “For the line-up for the next match, we will keep it according to the Iran and Syria match video and adjust it accordingly.
“Now the situation is very hard for us and we have to win our next two games to make it from the group. Our next match is against Syria, and after we both lost our first match, we must try our best.”
Syria coach Muhannad al-Fakeer was left frustrated by his side’s performance in their loss against Iran and he vowed his team will fight until they no longer have a chance to progress.
“We must solve the problems of our team, especially in the defensive line, at full back,” he said. “But I think we have something to do. We will never give up. We have to look forward. We have two matches left against China and Qatar and we have to do something in these games. But the conditions and the situation are not in our hands.”

Today’s matches
Group A
4:30 pm: China vs Syria at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium
7:30 pm: Iran vs Qatar at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium