AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023: Former Footballer Mesaad Ali Al Hamad to QNA: Doha has Become Capital of Sport

Doha, January 07 (QNA) - The former Qatari footballer Mesaad Ali Al Hamad emphasized that the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 Doha will host during Jan. 12 to Feb.10, 2024, will constitute an extension to Qatar's organizational successes after the state had offered the best tournament edition to the world through hosting the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022.
In remarks to Qatar News Agency (QNA), Al Hamad affirmed that Qatar has remained the capital of sports thanks to the consecutive successes it has achieved through hosting multiple major tournaments, chiefly the world cup 2022 which strikingly achieved a tremendous success that dazzled the world.
Hosting the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 will represent a new opportunity to underscore the major organizational capabilities Qatar possesses, he outlined, affirming his confidence that the tournament will culminate in best possible image. He pointed out that the Qatari team have a massive ambition in this new edition as a title holder and strive to maintain that title after they have been crowned during the previous edition for the first time in history, anticipating a powerful contest because various teams from east, west, or central region of Asia are fully ready to participate.
The tournament represents a challenge before the Qatari team as title holder with outstanding footballers playing after they were crowned the title in 2019 edition, The team were equipped with new players to reinforce progression and competition for winning the title, Al Hamad added.
Al Hamad hoped the edition would bode well for the team, especially that it is held on the Qatari soil, emphasizing that the elements of soil and fans would spur the Qatari footballers to perform well in front of the Asian teams after the Qatari team upgraded their capabilities to strongly compete for the cup.
The former Qatari footballer Mesaad Ali Al Hamad recalled the memories of 2011 edition held in Qatar, adding that he has special memories during the AFC Asian Cup 2011, since that tournament was the last station in his global career. Hence, he decided to cease his global competition after confronting Japan in the quarter final, highlighting the massive suspense the fans exhibited during that match, albeit Japanese team had regained their success with a low number of players by solely counting on the players' expertise.
The main objective for the Qatari team during that time was to win the title, but Japan had been successful in knocking out the Qatari team prior to being crowned with the title, Al Hamad noted, asserting that the Qatari team did not stop looking for victory in the Asian tournament and succeeded in achieving the milestone during the previous edition. He stressed that fans support is a national duty in 2023 edition, because it is held in Qatar, and subsequently it will behoove the fans to provide full support for the Qatari team to compete in the tournament and ultimately win the title for the second time in raw.
He affirmed that the Qatari fans are internalized with full awareness and culture that would help them offer full support, since it is a national mission through an all-hands-on-deck approach to accomplish a new milestone for the Qatari sports. (QNA)