Iraq coach Abdul Ghani Shahad has called on his charges to book their place in the quarter-finals of the AFC U23 Championship with a win against Uzbekistan today.
The Iraqis opened their Group C campaign on a positive note on Wednesday as Ali Faez and Ali Husni netted to hand them a 2-0 win over Yemen.
Next up for them is Saturday’s clash against the Uzbeks at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium, before they finish off their group stage campaign against Korea Republic on Tuesday.
As defending champions, expectations are high that Iraq can again make a real impact and perhaps even go all the way once more.
Shahad is not one to shy away from such targets and is hoping his side can achieve their present goal of qualifying for the knockout round.
Nonetheless, the fact that their final group game will be against another title contender in Korea Republic means he would prefer if his side got the job done against Uzbekistan.
“We want to qualify before we meet Korea Republic because they are a very good team,” he told the-afc.com at a team training session at Al Gharafa Stadium.
“Our aim is to qualify before we meet them.
“The match against Uzbekistan is very important.
“They are a very strong team, we respect them and they have in their ranks the best young player in Asia [Dostonbek Khamdamov], so it’s going to be a tough match.”
Despite Iraq seeing off Yemen in relatively comfortable fashion in their tournament opener, Shahad believes there is still room for improvement for his players.
He added: “We were not perfect against Yemen. We made some mistakes here and there… we need to improve.
“But we plan our strategies according to our opponents and we are ready for the next match.
“This is also the Olympic qualifier, which is a huge thing. But we have many very good and talented players and we hope to do well.”
Today’s other Group C clash sees Korea Republic also looking to make it two wins in a row against Yemen.