Soria suspended for crucial Qatar clash

AFC – DOHA, Coach Fahad Thani will be without striker Sebastian Soria as Qatar seek to remain in the qualification picture in Group A with victory over Iran in Tuesday’s final round 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifier.

Soria (pictured) is suspended as Qatar, who are currently level on points with third place Iran having played a game more after suffering a heartbreaking 2-1 defeat by Korea Republic in March, look to make full use of home advantage for the last time in the final round.

Thani, though, does welcome back defender Mohammed Kasola from suspension with Qatar set to end their final round campaign against Uzbekistan in Tashkent later this month.

“The match against Iran will be very hard for the two teams as they are both looking for a victory in order to strengthen their position in the group. Iran have a good chance to qualify to the World Cup but I believe we will give them a hard time,” said Thani, who saw his side draw 1-1 with Azerbaijan in a friendly last week following a recent 3-1 win over Latvia.

“We have prepared very well and the players are ready after a good season. We respect our opponents because they are a good team, but I believe that we will give our best in order to get a good result.”
With just two automatic qualification places available, Iran are currently three points adrift of second place Korea who face Lebanon in Beirut on Tuesday after losing 1-0 to Uzbekistan at home in November.

But Carlos Queiroz’s side, who arrived in Doha on Sunday, will look to make full use of their game in hand to close the four point gap on current Group A leaders Uzbekistan.

“We have prepared well for the match against Qatar as we had a good training camp in Dubai and we are ready for the match. We have a complete squad and hopefully this will help us to get a good result,” said Queiroz.

“We have three matches left and we are concentrating in order to qualify to the World Cup. I’m confident that the players can have a good performance and get a good result which will help us to qualify for Brazil.”

Following their trip to Doha, Iran entertain Lebanon next week before rounding off the final round campaign in Korea.