DOHA: Qatar go into the Asian Cup starting on Friday as hosts and holders but the shock axing of Carlos Queiroz as coach last month has thrown their title defence into serious question.

Prior to that, the talk was about how Qatar would right the wrongs of a disappointing early exit from their home World Cup just over a year ago.

Qatar’s three straight defeats was the worst performance of any World Cup host in history.

Former Real Madrid and Portugal coach Queiroz took over following the departure of Felix Sanchez, but in early December the Portuguese was sacked and replaced by Tintin Marquez.

Marquez is a familiar face to Qatari fans because he coached Al Wakrah in the domestic league and has a long relationship with football in the Gulf state.

“In football all the time there is pressure,” the 62-year-old Spaniard told AFP soon after his sudden appointment. “More important for the players is enjoying the match,” he said, downplaying the idea that his side was under pressure to make up for their World Cup flop.

Qatar open the Asian Cup on Friday when they face Lebanon at the 88,000-capacity Lusail Stadium, which staged the World Cup final.

Queiroz, who coached Iran at the World Cup and was assistant to Alex Ferguson at Manchester United, had a four-year contract with Qatar. He won five, lost five and drew two during his tenure.

Qatar’s football association gave no reason for the decision to get rid of him and the move, and its timing, baffled many.

Former national team player Raed Yaqoub said Queiroz had started the “positive” work of refreshing Qatar’s starting line-up to “give other names a chance”.

Interfering with that, said the player-turned-pundit, was “a big mistake”.

Yaqoub said that although Marquez is popular and well known in Qatar, “I think that holding him responsible only a month before the tournament is a mistake”.

Mohamed Mubarak al-Mohannadi, another former national player, said the switch so close to the Asian Cup left the team “facing the gun” given the difficulty “for any coach to make the required transformation within a month’s period”.

Marquez’s first game in charge, at the end of December, was a 3-0 win over a Cambodia team which failed to qualify for the regional championship.

The Spaniard, who played for Espanyol, said it was “important” that he knew Qatari football.

“I know the players, I know my mentality and I know... my idea for playing,” he said, explaining he was not “arriving new”.

Publicly at least the players have welcomed his appointment.

Defender Tarek Salman told AFP the change meant the team would need to adapt to a Spanish style, but added: “I think it’s going to fit us and we hope to achieve good things with the coach.”

He insisted that the expectations on the team were not the same as they had been going into the first World Cup in the Middle East.

Published in Dawn, January 10th, 2024

Opinion

Editorial

Smog hazard
Updated 05 Nov, 2024

Smog hazard

The catastrophe unfolding in Lahore is a product of authorities’ repeated failure to recognise environmental impact of rapid urbanisation.
Monetary policy
05 Nov, 2024

Monetary policy

IN an aggressive move, the State Bank on Monday reduced its key policy rate by a hefty 250bps to 15pc. This is the...
Cultural power
05 Nov, 2024

Cultural power

AS vital modes of communication, art and culture have the power to overcome social and international barriers....
Disregarding CCI
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Disregarding CCI

The failure to regularly convene CCI meetings means that the process of democratic decision-making is falling apart.
Defeating TB
04 Nov, 2024

Defeating TB

CONSIDERING the fact that Pakistan has the fifth highest burden of tuberculosis in the world as per the World Health...
Ceasefire charade
Updated 04 Nov, 2024

Ceasefire charade

The US talks of peace, while simultaneously arming and funding their Israeli allies, are doomed to fail, and are little more than a charade.