Qatar eyeing Brazil friendly before Copa America
21st February 2019
Doha: AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 winners Qatar could play friendlies against Brazil or Uruguay in June ahead of playing in the 2019 Copa America, the team's head coach and officials said on Wednesday.
The South American giants are among a list of teams Qatar are trying to secure matches against - others include Colombia, Panama and the USA - ahead of their first Copa America appearance.
"We need to finalise the preparations but sure we need to play a couple of games," said head coach Felix Sanchez on the sidelines of an award ceremony for the winning squad in Doha.
"We prepare a list of potential teams that we would like to play against but also we need to see their availability."
Qatar Football Association (QFA) president H.E. Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani said the team's first friendly would be in early June.
"It will be [a team] from South America, we will announce it as soon as possible," he said.
Qatar have been drawn in Group B with Argentina, Colombia and Paraguay in the Copa America, which starts on June 15 and will be hosted by Brazil.
Qatar will be joined by Japan - who the West Asians defeated 3-1 in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 final - in the Copa America. Japan will play in Group C with Uruguay, Ecuador and Chile.
Sheikh Hamad added that the QFA was "working" on a new contract for Sanchez following the AFC Asian Cup triumph.
Sanchez, however, said he did not need one, but when asked how long his existing contract was for, he said he could not "remember".
Source: AFP
Source: the-afc.com