In preparation for the Asian Cup, head coach Jankovic has led the national soccer team to train for a few days in the United Arab Emirates and will play several warm-up matches next. In addition, journalists who are following and covering the Asian Cup have revealed the preparations of the opponents of the national soccer team.
One of the national soccer team's rivals, Qatar, recently released its training roster in preparation for the Asian Cup, according to Soccer Daily. The team is generally older, with as many as 11 players over the age of 30 and only four newcomers under the age of 23, with the framework of the squad focused on the World Cup.
It is worth mentioning that Qatar, the main team of the Asian Cup, made the decision to change the coach just a month before the opening, with Marques replacing Queiroz, and the new coach, Marques, has never had any coaching experience with the national team, which is definitely good news for the national soccer team.
According to the classification, Qatar is ranked first and the national soccer team is ranked second. The two teams are the strongest rivals for the top spot in the group. It can be said that the national soccer team's signature is very good as Qatar is the weakest of the six seeded teams in the Asian Cup and managed to avoid Japan, South Korea, Iran, Saudi Arabia and Australia, increasing the national soccer team's hopes of competing for the top spot in the group.
Compared to the team that won the Asian Cup four years ago, this Qatar team has dropped significantly and is no longer a top Asian powerhouse, but that can be seen in the gradual aging of the lineup.
In addition, the national soccer team is undefeated against Qatar in its last three matches, including the 2016 preliminaries. The national soccer team drew 0-0 away to Qatar, then returned home for a 2-0 win, and then in the 2017 preliminaries, the national soccer team toppled Qatar 2-1 away from home.
Compared with Japan and South Korea, these strong teams, the national football team still has a way to face Qatar, the offense suppressed the opponent, you can win the first place in the group of the key game.
As there are 24 teams in the Asian Cup, divided into six groups of four teams each, of which the top two in each group and the best third place in the four groups, a total of 16 teams advance to the knockout rounds. The national football team wants to avoid the champions of Japan, Iran, South Korea, Saudi Arabia and Australia in the round of 16, it is necessary to get the first place in the group, so as to meet the weaker opponents early, more conducive to enter the top 8.
As head coach, Jankovic is leading the national soccer team in preparation for the Asian Cup. If he can achieve the goal of reaching the last eight and consolidate his coaching level, it will also boost the confidence of the national soccer team for the World Cup, because less than two months after the end of the Asian Cup, the preliminaries 36-team stage resumes with the national soccer team playing Singapore back to back. How will the result directly determine the group's prospects of qualifying?
