AFC Final Round for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games

DOHA: After their heart-breaking defeat in Saudi Arabia last weekend, Qatar will be hoping to pick themselves up and round off their Olympic qualification campaign with a win against Vietnam in their final Group C match on Wednesday.

 

Qatar went into their penultimate match in the AFC Final Round for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games as joint leaders in the group with Japan but despite taking the lead in Dammam, they eventually lost 2-1 to a last-minute goal by Abdullatif Al Ghannam, ending their hopes of qualifying for the Olympics for the first time since 1992.

 

With Japan and Saudi Arabia battling it out in Tokyo for first place and the coveted spot in Beijing, the Qataris will only be playing for pride when they face the last-placed Vietnamese in Doha.

 

"The game is not important anymore," said Qatar’s Moroccan coach Hassan Hormatulla. "Even if we win the game we will not be able to qualify for the Olympic Games in Beijing.

 

"However, we will try our best to win the game and finish our campaign with a victory. We must win on Wednesday because it will be good for the morale of the player after the defeat against Saudi Arabia.

 

"The game will be an open one as both sides have nothing to lose. Vietnam are a good side and they began strongly in the qualifiers but their performance dropped and they lost their two last matches."

 

Hassan Hormatulla’s side will be missing the services of Cameroon-born striker Ibrahima Nadiya, who was sent off against Saudi Arabia after elbowing Majed Al Amri during the second half, and Ibrahim Abdulmajed, who received his second yellow card of the qualifiers.

 

With qualification out of reach, the Qataris are likely to allow some of their players including Majdi Siddiq, Talal Al Bloushi and Ali Nasser to join the senior side for an international friendly against Ivory Coast on the same day.

 

Vietnam are also playing for pride after losing three of their five matches and picking up only two points.

Alfred Riedl’s side are likely to finish last in the group but Austrian coach will be hoping to see his players improve their woeful scoring record of two goals in five matches as they look to build confidence for next month’s South East Asian Games.