I expect Canada to advance out of the first round only because they will probably be Grouped with the 46th ranked team of the 48 team tournament.
I don't know it will be a very tough task for Qatar to win today in the UAE's backyard. They have Abdulaziz Haten + Bassam Al-Rawi, their last 2 goalscorers vs Iraq and South Korea respectively, plus UAE have been getting all the calls lately. A UAE vs Iran final vs. a Japan vs Qatar final could be the difference between 40,000 fans at the stadium vs 4,000 fans at the final. They've already lost Iran's legions of fans, I'm pretty sure AFC would much rather have the hosts than the fan-less Qatari team in the final. At least Japan's fans will clean the stadium afterwards. Anyhoo, we'll see hopefully the best team wins. But then there's this... https://www.qatarliving.com/forum/n...tickets-asian-cup-semifinals-stop-qatari-fans
Even France doesn't want to play Qatar right now. 0-4. Yikes. https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2019...asian-cup-football-final-190129154054955.html
I know as a Colombian fan I did not want them in my Group for Copa America. They will be very pesky in Brasil that is for sure.
The article makes mention of the match being suspended momentarily on two ocassions due to UAE fans throwing shoes and bottles at the Qatari players. Clearly the Middle East isn’t safe for the players or fans. I guess we have no choice but to move the Asian Cup final to Madrid, it’s the only reasonable option
Somebody's getting in trouble... Seriously, they must be watching too much Serie A or something. Back when the UAE 1-0'ed everyone to death in their first Gulf Cup win, all anyone wanted to do was party and hug everyone they saw.
They should move the Asian Cup final to Buenos Aires.. now that UAE and Iran are out, they'll probably get more spectators...
I guess the big deal is that the individual in question is supposed to be a Qatari citizen via the mother's citizenship. If She is not a citizen then I guess they are in trouble.
Qatar have issued a birth certificate for his mother, saying she was born in Qatar despite Iraq claiming to have the original certificate. Similar story with Almoez Ali, Qatar issued a birth certificate for his mother despite all his family connections being from Sudan. Because both of them are under 23, they can not meet the 5 years continued residency after they turned 18 rule to actually be eligible without real family connections. To get an exemption to this rule the FA of their home country has to agree, but Qatar aren't even claiming to have this exemption, just that their eligible through parents birth place.
I'm not certain the UAE wouldn't prefer this right now - to the (remote) possibility of Qatar lifting the trophy in their territory. Btw, I find the lack of smack-talking by @glennaldo_sf toward @Nico Limmat disturbing
It won't be too bad tomorrow, at least 25K in my opinion, even if most of them will be there to root against Qatar.
Maybe they're just saving it as I said before, this game in Abu Dhabi is just a warm up until Japan and Qatar meet this summer at the Maracana for the 2019 Copa American Cup Final... that will be the true decider!