Champions Qatar must ‘deal with’ Asian Cup pressure: captain

DOHA: Qatar must shoulder the pressure of defending their crown when they kick off the Asian Cup on home soil against Lebanon on Friday, captain Hassan Al-Haydos warned.

The 2022 World Cup hosts won the continental title for the first time in the United Arab Emirates in 2019, stunning four-time champions Japan in the final. But they gave the worst on-field performance of any World Cup host ever just over a year ago, losing all three group games and becoming the first team eliminated.

Haydos said Thursday that Qatar would have to deal with heightened expectations at the Asian Cup, starting with their Group A opener at Lusail Stadium. “I think the 2019 generation has raised our level of expectation -- we are always required to win in any competition we play in,” said the attacker, who has been capped more than 170 times.

“It raises the bar and gives us a challenge, but challenge is the real flavour of football. “I hope the new generation of players can deal with this pressure.”