Asian Cup minnows Tajikistan plan to go on offensive against Qatar

DOHA: Tajikistan coach Petar Segrt said on Tuesday (Jan 16) the Asian Cup debutants will take the game to hosts and defending champions Qatar in their second Group A match, aiming to earn the three points as well as the respect of the home fans.

Tajikistan gave a good account of themselves in their group opener when they drew 0-0 with China, earning praise for how they held up against a team 27 spots above them in the rankings.

Although the coach was happy with the point, he said he wished the game had ended "2-2 or 3-3" instead and hopes to see his team score their first goal in the competition against Qatar at Al Bayt Stadium on Wednesday.

"It is not the character of Tajikistan people to play defence, the character is to play attack ... Every country, every culture has its character and for us, in this situation, we will also try to play our football against Qatar," the Croatian told reporters.

"But we must also respect that Qatar is much stronger than China and Qatar has a lot of very great players. And I don't know how big the influence of the spectators will be.

"All the players in the first game were only happy to be here. Now they see that maybe we can have a good result."

Segrt also launched a charm offensive, praising Qatar and its people, hoping to win over the supporters with the vast majority of fans at the 68,895 capacity stadium ready to root for the hosts.

"The culture of Qatar is very friendly but for 90 minutes you must excuse us. I know that most of them will support Qatar in the beginning, but I hope that at the end that they will also respect (us) and give us sympathy and applause," he said.

"We will try to play our maximum football and after the game I will be not unhappy when we have four points, but what