Qatar will aim to make a clean sweep of their Group C campaign when they meet China in a World Cup qualifying match here today.
With 21 points from seven matches, Qatar have already made the final round of the World Cup qualifiers from Asia, but a victory against China would give them an eight-match winning streak in a major event, something which is unprecedented for the country.
China, on the other hand, will be determined to avoid a second straight defeat against Qatar while hoping that other favourable results today would somehow help them sneak into the final qualifying phase as one of the four best-placed group runners-up among the several teams in the fray.
If China fail to beat Qatar, it would mark another disappointment for the sporting powerhouse. While the Chinese are world-beaters when it comes to Olympic sports, they have never qualified for the quadrennial football showpiece.
Qatar coach Daniel Carreno, meanwhile, has drilled into his team the importance of not taking the foot off the accelerator even though the team have already made the cut for the 12-team final phase of qualifying starting later this year.
“It’s important we don’t lose our momentum. China are a dangerous team when playing at home and we must always keep our level of football high,” Carreno told journalists at his pre-match press conference yesterday.
Qatar beat China 1-0 in the first leg in Doha last October, but Uruguayan Carreno said that past results don’t mean much.
“We should concentrate on the present with an eye on the future, which is qualifying for the 2018 World Cup,” he said.
Qatar are likely to test their bench strength, especially with some of their seniors out with injury or suspension.
Hassan al-Haydos, Sebastian Soria and Ali Asad are suspended, while Ahmed Yasser is nursing an injury.
Meanwhile, Australia coach Ange Postecoglou has dismissed revenge as a motivation for the Asian champions in today’s crunch World Cup qualifier against Harry Redknapp’s Jordan.
After thrashing Tajikistan 7-0 on Thursday, the Socceroos need only a draw from their final Group B fixture to progress to the third stage of Asian qualifiying, from which four countries will secure tickets to Russia in 2018.
The Jordanians, who trail Australia by two points, inflicted the only defeat of the campaign so far on Australia with a 2-0 win in Amman last October.
Postecoglou has previously said that avenging that defeat would be a spur at the Sydney Football Stadium but a grumpy Australia coach performed an about-turn on Monday.
“It’s not about revenge, it’s about finishing strongly,” he told reporters at the team hotel.
“If we win tomorrow night, it’s not going to erase what happened in Jordan, that’s not the way football works.
“Revenge is best left to the movies, mate, this is real life. We just want to finish this group off strongly, I think we’ve got stronger throughout this group and we want to finish it off tomorrow night.”
Postecoglou has fitness concerns about his captain Mile Jedinak, who did not train with the team at the weekend because of a thigh injury, and said he would not “risk him unnecessarily”.
With everyone else in the squad “in good nick”, other changes to his team from the Tajikistan match would be about form and the kind of match he wanted to play.
Most important of all, though, was a good performance to improve his mood.
“I’ll let other people worry about points and top of the table and seeds, because if we have a scrappy performance tomorrow night and finish on top, that’s not going to make me happy,” he said.
“We want to keep progressing our football. A win and top of the group will hopefully be a by-product of us playing good football.
“It’s all about the performance, it always is about the performance for us.”
Postecoglou, however, thought that whatever line-up he put out, they would be able to break down the sometimes negative Jordanians.

Philippines hope to shock North Korea
Philippines coach Thomas Dooley sees no reason why his charges cannot defeat North Korea in the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifiers at the Rizal Memorial Stadium in Manila today.
After beginning their campaign in impressive form with victories over Bahrain and Yemen, the Azkals have since suffered four defeats and a draw and are currently fourth in Group H.
Bahrain are presently in third place and will advance straight to the third round of the Asian Cup qualifiers, with the Philippines running the risk of having to go through the playoffs should they not finish as one of the four best fourth-placed teams.
But with the Bahrainis facing a tricky visit to Group leaders Uzbekistan, the Azkals know that a victory of their own should be enough to see them climb above their competitors.
Although it will not be easy against a DPR Korea outfit also challenging for top spot, Dooley insists his team must believe in themselves, especially after last Thursday’s brave display in a narrow 1-0 defeat to Uzbekistan.
“Because of the fight last week against Uzbekistan, they know how to play against those big teams,” he said, according to Philippine Daily Inquirer.
“They just have to have confidence against North Korea.
“This time, it’s a little bit different; I want to win now, and my opinion is we can win.
“Anything is possible.”
There will also be extra motivation for the Philippines after veteran defender Juan Luis Guirado confirmed in Monday’s pre-match press conference that the game would be his last before retiring from international football. The 36-year-old, who was born in Spain but qualified to play for the Azkals through his mother, has been a mainstay in the team since 2012 and represented them at two AFC Challenge Cups and AFF (Asean Football Federation) Championships.