Qatar face South Korea in must-win encounter today

Qatar have had a lot of ‘now or never’ matches during their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign. But today’s encounter against South Korea is effectively the last opportunity for them to get a win and keep alive their weak chance of qualification. It’s still a mathematical chance and depends uncomfortably on the results of other teams but it’s all that Qatar has got.  This is their eighth Group A match and they will have the advantage of playing at home. The match will be played at the Al Sadd stadium and the home team will be hoping that the pitch and the fans will help turn the result in their way.Qatar are currently at the bottom of the group with just four points from their seven matches so far. Iran, who already qualified after they defeated Uzbekistan 2-0 yesterday, are table toppers with 20 points. In second place is South Korea who will be hoping to defeat Qatar today and move closer to qualification. Qatar has three matches left and that means that they can get a maximum of 13 points. That will only be good enough for third place, which will give them the chance to advance to the fourth round. The winner of this fourth round will face the fourth placed team in the CONCACAF standings for a slot in the 2018 World Cup.This scenario means that Qatar has to win all their remaining matches and also hope that all other teams above them stumble. A high ask but not impossible. “Our chances are low, not impossible. Maybe after the game, we can speak more about the future. But now I want to focus on the game. The players want to give their best for the country, irrespective whether it will be our first or last game,” said Qatar coach Jorge Fossati during the pre-match press conference yesterday. “We recognise the quality of our opponents. They have many players playing in good leagues in Europe. But I have confidence in my players that they will do a good job. That is essential if we want to beat a high-level opponent like South Korea,” he added. In the previous encounter between these two teams, Qatar was leading 2-1 after the first half. But two quick goals within the first 13 minutes of the second half by South Korea resulted in Qatar ending up on the losing side. Qatar have had many such close calls in this campaign. It started with 2-0 loss to Iran where they had conceded goals in the 94th and 96th minute. Then the home loss to Uzbekistan where they fell behind in the 86th minute and ended up losing. All of these near-misses have proved very costly. Qatar will need to pull up their socks and produce a performance that they can be proud of. The home team will be without the services of suspended Sebastian Soria but coach Fossati believed that he has the bench strength to replace him. “I have big confidence in the player who will take Sebastian’s place. He’s a very important place for. But because I don’t have a Messi, Ronaldo or Suarez, I believe we cannot be dependent on one player,” said Fossati.Everybody in the team will have to step up and deliver if Qatar are to pull off a win today and keep alive their hopes. It’s do-or-die like never before.