“White” is ready to present a historic match… and we will not pay attention to external factors

The national team coach, Romanian Elario Cosmin, confirmed the national team’s readiness to face its Qatari counterpart in the 2026 World Cup qualifiers, stressing that the team will focus on giving everything it has in the match without paying attention to any external factors related to the refereeing team that will manage the match, or allocating only 8% of the capacity of Jassim bin Hamad Stadium to the Emirates fans, indicating that “Al-Abyad” is ready to play a historic match to obtain the qualification ticket to the tournament. World Cup.

Cosmin said in a press conference yesterday that he focused on the players’ recovery, explaining: “The time was short to prepare the team for the match, especially since we played against Oman last Saturday, so our attention was on preparing the players physically, in addition to studying the Qatar team.”

In response to a question about the appointment of Uzbek referee Ilgiz Tantashev to manage the match, he said: “We know the referee well, as he previously managed a match for the national team, and we will not focus on this matter, and we hope that he will perform well as well.”

As for the small number of tickets obtained by the team’s fans, he said: “We saw the great influence of the crowd in the last match, and there is no doubt that the percentage of crowd attendance must be equal between the two teams, but we will work to give everything we have and focus on the match.”

The Romanian coach indicated that the pressure will be on both teams, indicating that the goal is the same for both, which is to qualify for the World Cup.

For his part, national team player Ali Saleh said that “Al-Abyad” will play the match in order to achieve victory, adding: “We know that the match is difficult, and we will try to start the same way we started the second half against Oman, and we will work to give everything we have to achieve victory.”

Regarding the influence of the crowd and the small number, he said: “Against Oman, the crowd actually played a very big role, but we know that the crowd outside the stadium and behind the screens also supports us and we seek to make them happy by achieving victory, as I see that the crowd is an additional support factor for us, and an incentive to achieve victory, not a pressure factor.”

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Lopetegui: The UAE’s superiority over Qatar in the last two matches has become a thing of the past

Qatar national team coach, Spanish Julen Lopetegui, said that the match is difficult for both teams, noting that Al-Anabi is playing to achieve victory.

He said: “The confrontation is different in this match, as it will determine the identity of the team that will qualify for the World Cup, and the previous two matches have become a thing of the past.”

Regarding his opinion of the referee, he said: “We trust his abilities and decisions, and I focus on my team only, and we wish him success in managing the match.”

On the other hand, Qatar national team player Asim Madibo said: “We know that the match is difficult, but we will give everything we have to achieve victory.” He continued: “I extend my thanks to the Qatari fans, who are our number one supporter, and we have complete confidence in their strong presence and positive influence on the players.”

Cosmin:

• We know the Uzbek referee well.. We will not focus on this matter, and we hope that he will perform at a good level.