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Doha, Qatar: The coach of the Qatari national football team, Elideo Valle, confirmed that the goal of competing in the AFC U-23 Cup finals is to qualify for the football competition in the next Olympic Games (Paris 2024).
At a press conference ahead of the opening match against Indonesia, Valle said that the tournament is important to all participating teams as it qualifies for the Olympics. Therefore the competition will not be easy for everyone in the various stages starting from the group stage.
The coach added that the Qatari team is now fully prepared for the tournament after entering a lengthy preparatory program that began last August, during which the Qatari Football Association provided all the requirements for success.
He added that the Qatari team may not be the first nominee to win the title, but being supported by two important factors: the ground and the fans, the team will spare no effort in the competition.
Qatar's winning of the AFC Asian Cup Doha 2023 will give the team a great morale boost to make a new achievement that confirms the golden era of Qatari football, said the coach ruling out that this would be a factor of pressure on the U-23 squad.
This is Qatar's fifth appearance in the tournament. In 2018 Qatar took the third place.
The team will be required to earn three points against the tournament newcomers "Indonesian", to enhance their chances of qualifying from a strong first group featuring Australia and Jordan.
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