By Denzil Pinto
DOHA: With four days to go until the Asian qualifiers of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup in Doha, United Arab Emirates (UAE) coach Marcelo Mendes has stressed that his team’s priority is to secure one of the three qualification berths for the World Cup in Tahiti later this year.
Speaking to The Peninsula on his team’s arrival in Doha yesterday, Brazilian coach Mendes said: “We have come here to qualify for the World Cup. If we finish first, second or third, we are there (in Tahiti). Of course if we get to the qualification and win the tournament it is a perfect scenario, but first of all we are here to get to the semi-final, and fight for one of the three places in the World Cup.” Mendes’ side, who were the second team to arrive in Doha after China’s arrival on Wednesday, will open their campaign in their Group C clash against Saudi Arabia on January 22 at the Katara Beach.
They will then play Palestine and Uzbekistan, in what has been described as a ‘hard’ group by the Brazilian coach.
He said: “Saudi Arabia are never an easy team to play against. They have strong players with experience. Our second game is against Palestine who are improving, and took third place at the Asian Beach Games (in 2012).”
“Uzbekistan have strong players. It is a hard group. I think there are some groups harder than ours. We have to play each game step by step,” he added. The defending champions Japan, along with hosts Qatar, Afghanistan, Australia, Bahrain, China, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, the Philippines and Thailand will be among the 16 teams who will be competing in the five-day tournament in Doha.
The top team from the four-team group will advance to the semi-finals, with the two finalists and the third-placed side qualifying for the seventh edition of the World Cup that will take place from September 18 to 28 this year.
When asked who are the favourites to reach the World Cup, Mendes replied: “It is difficult to talk about favourites in a tournament which has 16 teams. But always Japan are strong. Iran are the Asian Beach champions now. We cannot forget Qatar, who are playing at home.”
He added: “Oman are always strong in all competitions. We have us (UAE), plus the new teams who are improving such as Palestine and China. There are many teams competing for the three places.”
UAE will be encouraged with their recent performances most notably after their third-place finish at the Samsung Beach Soccer Intercontinental Cup in November. UAE finished behind two-time champions Russia and former world champions Brazil in Dubai.
UAE, who have won the 2007 and 2008 editions of the Asian qualifiers of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup, drew their friendly series against Hungary recently, which was a good test according to Mendes.
“We played a good game (against Hungary). We were a little bit unlucky during the (first) game (4-3 loss). In the second match we showed our best performance and we had a good result (5-3 win) against a good opposition. Tomorrow we play against Iraq in a friendly game in Doha and Inshallah we will be ready,” he said.
Mendes, who has also coached Qatar coach Carlos Alberto Lisboa, hopes that both UAE and Qatar who are hosting this competition for the first time can qualify for the World Cup.
“Their coach (Lisboa) is a good friend of mine. I have coached him before and I wish him all the best. Hopefully us and Qatar will be able to qualify for the final which would be a very good experience,” he said yesterday. The Peninsula
