- Title: South Korea and Qatar prepare to meet in World Cup qualifier
- Date: 5th October 2016
- Summary: SUWON, SOUTH KOREA (OCTOBER 5, 2016) (REUTERS) **** WARNING CONTAINS FLASH PHOTOGRAPHY **** VARIOUS OF SOUTH KOREAN PLAYERS TRAINING HEADERS CLOSE OF SOUTH KOREAN MIDFIELDER, LEE CHUNG-YONG, DURING HEADING EXERCISE SOUTH KOREAN FORWARD, JI DONG-WON, PASSING BALL SOUTH KOREAN COACH, ULRICH STIELIKE, WATCHING TRAINING JI DONG-WON (RIGHT) AND MIDFIELDER, KOO JA-CHEOL (LEFT), PASSING BALL SOUTH KOREAN CAPTAIN, KI SUNG-YUENG TRAINING TRAINING IN PROGRESS NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS STIELIKE, (CENTRE) AND KI SUNG-YUENG (RIGHT) SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (English) SOUTH KOREAN COACH, ULRICH STIELIKE, SAYING: "Now we are a little bit under pressure, that's it. A big team has to show in complicated moments that they are a strong team and that is what we have to do tomorrow. I'm very confident because I see working of our team and when we are talking about preparation, really our preparation is mental preparation." JOURNALISTS SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Korean) SOUTH KOREAN CAPTAIN, KI SUNG-YUENG, SAYING: "I think the ability gap between the two teams is not that big. So one little mistake could influence the game a lot. A midfielder, who has to play a role in both attack and defence, could easily give a chance to the opponent if there is no careful attention to every single thing and I have been preparing hard for that." VARIOUS OF QATAR PLAYERS TRAINING QATAR FORWARD, AKRAM AFIF TRAINING MORE OF PLAYERS TRAINING QATAR STRIKER, SEBASTIAN SORIA TRAINING QATAR COACH, JORGE FOSSATI (FAR RIGHT) SPEAKING WITH QATAR TEAM TRAINERS VARIOUS OF QATAR GOALKEEPER, SAAD AL SHEEB TRAINING FOSSATI TAKING SEAT IN NEWS CONFERENCE JOURNALISTS SEATED FOSSATI AND QATAR DEFENDER, MUSAAB MOHAMED SITTING IN NEWS CONFERENCE (SOUNDBITE) (English) QATAR COACH, JORGE FOSSATI, SAYING: "I can repeat, it will be a very, very tough game but in the both sides. I think by my confidence of the play in our players, I trust too much in them, so I think that will be a very tough game for us but also for them." JOURNALISTS SITTING (SOUNDBITE) (Arabic) QATAR DEFENDER, MUSAAB MOHAMED, SAYING: "As the coach says, it's going to be a tough game because (South) Korea are one of the best teams in Asia and they have unique players. So we as players have taken this into consideration and we have to be focused 100 percent and try to carry out the coach's instructions on the pitch. It will be a difficult match. As players we aren't travelling for 10 hours just to get onto the pitch, lose and go back home, quite the opposite in fact, we have to be focused as players with determination and perseverance on the pitch. The match will not only be difficult for the Qatari team, it will also be difficult for the Korean team. We respect the Korean team but at the same time we need those three points." NEWS CONFERENCE IN PROGRESS
- Embargoed: 20th October 2016 16:02
- Keywords: Soccer World Cup South Korea Qatar
- Location: SUWON, SOUTH KOREA
- City: SUWON, SOUTH KOREA
- Country: South Korea
- Topics: Soccer,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA00152QAQ0V
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: South Korea and Qatar trained on Wednesday (October 5) as they prepared to meet in the final Asian qualifying stage for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The hosts sit third in Group A with one win and one draw and coach Ulrich Stielike showed confidence ahead of the match.
"Now we are a little bit under pressure, that's it. A big team has to show in complicated moments that they are a strong team and that is what we have to do tomorrow. I'm very confident because I see working of our team and when we are talking about preparation, really our preparation is mental preparation," Stielike told reporters at a news conference.
"I think the ability gap between the two teams is not that big. So one little mistake could influence the game a lot. A midfielder, who has to play a role in both attack and defence, could easily give a chance to the opponent if there is no careful attention to every single thing and I have been preparing hard for that," South Korean captain, Ki Sung-yueng, added.
Qatar trained at the Suwon World Cup stadium, where the match will be played on Thursday (October 6).
In late September Jorge Fossati was appointed as Qatar's new coach in a bid to revive fading hopes of qualifying for its first World Cup finals.
"I can repeat, it will be a very, very tough game but in the both sides. I think by my confidence of the play in our players, I trust too much in them, so I think that will be a very tough game for us but also for them," Fossati said.
Qatar lost to Iran and Uzbekistan in their opening two games, leaving them bottom of the six-team group also including China and Syria.
"It's going to be a tough game because (South) Korea are one of the best teams in Asia and they have unique players. So we as players have taken this into consideration and we have to be focused 100 percent and try to carry out the coach's instructions on the pitch. It will be a difficult match," Qatar defender Musaab Mohamed said.
"As players we aren't travelling for 10 hours just to get onto the pitch, lose and go back home, quite the opposite in fact, we have to be focused as players with determination and perseverance on the pitch. The match will not only be difficult for the Qatari team, it will also be difficult for the Korean team. We respect the Korean team but at the same time we need those three points," he added.
The two sides are set to meet on Thursday at 08:00 p.m. local time (1100 GMT) in Suwon. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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