Qatar reaches Asian Cup final against Japan, routing UAE 4-0 amid insults

Another interesting game, especially with the political stalemate in the background. One of the Qatari players kissed a fallen UAE player, a brotherly gesture on the field that was probably not appreciated by the blockading Arab alliance.

With both their attacking and defending strategy and energy, and crisp ball control, Qatar deserved this win. Will they go on to beat Japan? Hard to say. Japan are definitely capable of beating Qatar, but both sides will need to be on their toes against any small lapse in concentration.

Roll on Friday night!

What is really interesting is that any regular listener to BBC's 'World Football Phone-In' would have been tipped-off on a show around a couple of months ago about the quality of the Qatari team these days. The show is hosted by some professional football journalists specialising in world football and Qatar were mentioned as a new force in Asian football who could surprise at their own World Cup. They could be achieving ahead of schedule. Qatar obviously have the funding and their current coach is Barca's previous under-17's coach.

@TTD, until recently Qatar had the (imo) very bad habit of naturalising foreign players (in all major team sports and also athletics, not only football) to boost their NT. Their handball NT in particular was/is a joke.

Not sure about their current asian cup squad though, haven't seen them play.