Lebanon coach eyes upset in clash against Qatar

Lebanon coach Miodrag Radulovic on Thursday said his young side will aim for an upset today against defending champions Qatar when the two sides meet in the opening match of the AFC Asian Cup at Lusail Stadium.
Winless in seven internationals against Qatar, the Lebanon coach said his side has arrived in Doha with a deep desire to impress football fans. “We will try to get a positive result. I will tell them to play for three points, nothing else. We have trained well but we need to show our big potential. I hope our young players will show their talent. We will fight for each point to go to the next round. I believe we have the potential (to win),” Radulovic said at a pre-match conference.
“I am optimistic that we can play equally well with every side in this group,” the 56-year-old said. Ranked 107 in the FIFA rankings, Lebanon will play against China (Jan 17 and Tajikistan (Jan 22) after today’s clash. “In this group of players, I have a lot of young players along with experienced names. Two recent matches show our system is working. The playing atmosphere is good. There are a few injuries and that’s the only concern we have,” he added.
“We very excited to be here because we will participate for the second time in such a big competition like the Asian Cup. We will try to show all our capabilities. I believe in my team. It was a short time for preparation. I know the teams in this group very well. We will try to do our best,” he said.
A few days after his resignation as coach of Montenegro, Radulovic was re-appointed coach of Lebanon last month following the departure of Nikola Jurcevic. In a friendly against Saudi Arabia last week, Lebanon looked organised in the 1-0 defeat. Radulovic, who coached Lebanon at the 2019 Asian Cup, on Thursday praised Qatar’s rise in Asia.
“I feel the Qatar team - personally speaking - are looking good. They are one of the favourites to win the tournament. We are playing the defending champions. I appreciate their results in recent years. Qatar are one of those sides I admire. I am sure the fans would enjoy the game. We will try to use our experience from the last competition. These days we have been busy trying to rectify our mistakes,” Radulovic said.
“There is big motivation for everyone. Every player who trains wants to play a big tournament like this. Like I told you we have a fine blend of young and experienced players. Tomorrow we should be well prepared psychologically. There will be 88,000 fans. I will be trying to calm the players,” he added.
“China and Tajikistan and their results have been up also. All the games will be interesting and difficult. There’s no time to make mistakes. But then this is also a big challenge for us to show our potential. This will also help us for the future. Our main target (from this tournament) is to get experience for future matches.
“I came back to Lebanon after five years. I have good memories about Lebanese players and people. I believe we can repeat our good results from the past. We have a group of young players who have great energy. Now we are strong as a group,” he added.
For captain Hassan Maatouk, the tournament represents an opportunity to create history for Lebanese football - a place in the knockout stage for the first time in their history. Maatouk sees the return of Radulovic as head coach a huge positive and is counting on the Montenegrin’s familiarity with the players to give Lebanon an edge in the tournament.