Qatar coach: Team must shut out ‘noise’ in World Cup opener
Fifa president Sepp Blatter at a news conference on March 15, 2014 in Zurich, Switzerland. REUTERS/Denis Balibouse
EASTON, England (Reuters) – Qatar’s coach, Luiz Felipe Scolari, knows the team needs to shut out the noisiest opponents if they want to win a World Cup for the first time, despite their early-season successes.
But, he said, the Qataris are happy with the direction of their country’s footballing affairs, after winning their second Asian Football Confederation (AFC) title under their new manager and then dominating the World Cup qualifiers.
“It is good to win the Asian championship but now we know the next step, which is the World Cup,” said Scolari.
“We have a lot of quality players and we will need to shut everything out.
“We have played very well in our games so far but now we have to shut things out.
“I know the noise will be difficult but we have to do it to win the World Cup.”
And the Qataris will not shy away from the task either.
“We will shut it out and we understand it is difficult for other teams,” said Qatar’s new manager.
“But we will go full steam ahead and put pressure on their full-backs.”
Scolari’s appointment ends Qatar’s longest wait for a World Cup title – they last won the Asian title in 1982.
