Qatar will go all out for win against Jordan, says Vale

Qatar will aim to once again secure three points today when they face Jordan in their second Group A encounter at the AFC U-23 Asian Cup, according to head coach Ilidio Vale.
Following their 2-0 win against Indonesia on Monday in the opening match, a second consecutive success at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium will see the hosts become the first side to seal their place in the knockout stage and their third appearance in the last eight.
While Vale cautioned against taking their opponents lightly, the Portuguese declared that his team heads into every match aiming for nothing less than victory. “Naturally, before starting this competition, we knew that it would be difficult to qualify from this group,” the 66-year-old said. “We expect another difficult game for Qatar (but) there is a slogan for our team, which is to ‘win and nothing but the win’.”
Man of the match in their opening match, midfielder Jassem Gaber is aiming to turn in another commanding display and vowed that Qatar will improve as their campaign progresses.
“We are taking it step by step in this tournament and we have just finished the first step,” said the 22-year-old, who has already been capped at senior level and scored at the Asian Cup. “But mainly, we will focus on our coach’s instructions, and be even better in the next game.”
Jordan, who were held to a goalless draw in their first match on Monday against Australia, will have their task made more difficult by the suspension of captain Danial Afaneh after the centre-back was sent off in that game.
Head coach Abdallah Abu Zema, however, played down any concerns over his captain’s unavailability and called on his charges to reset their mentality for their first ever encounter against Qatar in tournament history.
“When we announced our squad of players (for this tournament), of course we already had in mind an alternative player for everyone... and thankfully, we also have someone to replace Danial,” the 48-year-old said. “The game against Qatar has its own circumstances, tactics, decisions and different instructions to be taken. We have played Australia and we are going to forget that – it is done and we got the point we needed.
“We look forward to our game against Qatar in a very serious manner and hope it will take us one step closer to the knockout stage. However, let’s not forget that the Qatari team is playing on their own turf, in their own country and amongst their own people and they are a very good team. This is something to be taken into consideration but we will be getting ready and hoping for the best.”

Australia eye first win
In the other Group A match today, Australia coach Tony Vidmar is relishing his side’s meeting with Indonesia as the Olyroos look to back up their opening day draw against Jordan with their first three points of the campaign at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.
Vidmar is attempting to steer Australia to a second successive Olympic Games qualification and only the country’s third since joining the Asian Football Confederation in 2006, and victory over Shin Tae-yong’s side would take his team a step closer to the knockout rounds.
“We were happy to start off with a point in this tournament,” said Vidmar. “We look forward to playing Indonesia, which is going to be a really good game. Ten of their players were at the senior Asian Cup so that will be a real test. They were impressive at the senior Asian Cup in January. That’s what we’re here for, to be tested against good opposition, different types of football. It’s only going to make our players better for the experience.”
The Australians currently sit two points behind early Group A leaders Qatar after sharing the points with the Jordanians and the Olyroos are expected to once again be at full strength after reporting no initial injuries in the aftermath of their first game. “It’s one point in the right direction,” captain Callum Talbot said after the draw, which was achieved despite Jordan playing out the closing stages with 10 men due to Danial Afaneh’s red card. “It’s a positive, a clean sheet and we move onto the next game.”
Indonesia, meanwhile, will be looking to bounce back from a demoralising 2-0 loss to Qatar in their opener on Monday at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium.
Shin’s hopes of taking the Indonesians into the next phase of the competition are further impacted by the unavailability of Ivar Jenner and Ramadhan Sananta, who were both sent off in the loss on Monday and will be serving suspensions as a result.
Jenner was dismissed moments into the second half for a second bookable offence following a challenge on Saif Eldeen Hassan while Sananta was given a straight red card for a foul on Mohamed Aiash deep into injury time at the end of the game.