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10MA TOPICS! [KOREA FA] AFC U23 CHAMPIONSHIP SF: QATAR V KOREA REPUBLIC PREVIEW

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10passion

January 26, 2016

NEWS

Felix Sanchez is expecting captain Abdulkareem Hassan to be fit to face Korea Republic on Tuesday as Qatar set their sights on booking a berth in the final of the AFC U23 Championship as well as securing a place at the finals of the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro.

Hassan (pictured), the tournament’s joint-top scorer, picked up an injury in the quarter-final win over DPR Korea but should recover to play against the Koreans, but Sanchez will be without the services of Mohammed Muntari, who is suspended after picking up a second yellow card of the tournament in the 2-1 extra-time win.

“Abdulkareem Hassan is going to be ok,” said the Spanish coach. “Muntari is suspended with two yellow cards, he’s an important player for us but we have 22 more and we have the resources to play the match.”

The Qataris are aiming to qualify for the Olympic Games for the first time since reaching the quarter-finals in Barcelona in 1992 and a win over the Koreans would not only take Sanchez’s team into the final but would secure one of Asia’s three berths in Brazil.

“We are in the last part of the competition and every game is going to be harder and harder because the opposition is very high quality,” said Sanchez.

“The pressure is the same as in every other game because each game is like a final for us. We are proud to be at this stage of the competition and we will play with all we have inside. More than the pressure, we are proud to be here and we’re going to try to do a last effort in this final stage.....

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