The reporter reported coldly In the upcoming group stage of the U20 Asian Cup, the first opponent of the national youth team is the Qatar team. They won the Under-19 Asian Youth Championship in 2014 and reached the semi-finals in 2018, so they competed in the 2015 and 2019 Under-20 World Youth Championships. But in the U20 Asian Cup two years ago, the Qatar team lost all 3 games in the group stage, scoring 2 goals and conceding 12 goals, with a bad record. It is worth noting that that the Qatar Football Federation had cooperated with the Spanish Football Federation to send young players to the lower echelons of Spanish clubs, and there were five players in the team at that time who played for Leonesse and Alcocon.

Two years later, the "Spanishization" of the Qatar national youth team has become even more "Spanish", and as many as 13 players in the 23-man squad have played in the lower echelons of Spain. This unprecedented "Spanish" Qatari team is an unprecedented challenge for the national youth team.

13 people are training in Spain

Previously, the Qatar Football Association established a Hope Football School in the country and hired a large number of Spaniards as coaches. However, after the defeat in the 2022 World Cup, the Qatar Football Association began to promote the establishment of a youth training base in Spain to directly send talents to the national youth team. Initially at Leoneza and Alcocon, the latter was bought by American capital in 2019, including Ivan Bravo, the general manager of Qatar Hope Football Academy, who previously served as Real Madrid's strategy director.

Ten of the Qatar Under-20 squad are from the Caraora team, which is currently in Spain's fourth tier. At the start of the 2023/24 season, the club has welcomed Qatari players into the squad in batches. Eight were signed last season and 10 this season. Taking the U20 Asian Cup qualifiers in September last year as an example, among the main lineup of the Qatar national youth team in three games, left winger Guda, midfielder Taha, midfield captain Hassan, left back Bala, central defender Nisami and goalkeeper Osman 6 people are from the Karaora echelon. Spain also have right winger Jashd, midfielder Eid (Alcoconti) and right-back Mohammed (Leonesa), while only centre-forward Faragalla and centre-back Al-U play in the Qatari league.

Qatar scored eight goals in three qualifying games, with left winger Guda and captain Hassan scoring in each game, tying for the Golden Boot with three goals, and Hassan also had two assists. Alcoconti defender Ed scored 2 goals and 1 assist, and 3 Spanish players scored all 8 goals. In addition, Jashd, who also plays for Alcoconti, also has one assist. Among the stand-up substitutes, midfielder Hamad is also from the Caraola echelon. The "Spanishization" of the Qatar national youth team has never been as deep as it is now.

Qatar's homegrown newcomers, only the center of the giant Sadd echelon, Faragala, and the central defender of the Galafa echelon, Aliou, can sit in the starting lineup. Faragala also had three assists in last year's U20 Asian Cup qualifiers, and in addition, Doha National defender Shahabi also has a chance to compete for the main team.

The main 4231 is still the technical flow

The coach of the Qatar U20 national youth team is 60-year-old Spanish coach Saliugat, who played for Athletic Bilbao, Oviedo, Las Palmas and other La Liga teams as a player. After retiring, he started as a coach of Athletic Bilbao and has coached La Liga teams such as Athletic Bilbao and Oviedo. His involvement with Qatari football began in the summer of 2023 when he was the coach of the echelon team of the Qatari Football Federation, which is the base camp of the Qatar Football Federation to develop young players. Last summer, Saliugat officially served as the coach of the Qatar U20 national youth team and led the team to the U20 Asian Cup.

Saliugat's technique and tactics are typical of the Spanish style, focusing on the 4231 formation, and the squad announced on February 6 is basically based on the lineup from last year's U20 Asian Cup qualifiers, with only minor tweaks. Not surprisingly, the Qatar national youth team continued to use Al-Faragalla as a central striker, with Guda, captain Hassan and Al Jashd behind him in charge of opening up the flanks and supporting the attack. Ed's partner at the back is more likely to be homegrown newcomer Shahabi. The defense line is dominated by the "Spanish Gang", the left and right defenders are Bala and Mohammed, the central defender Nisami and the goalkeeper Osman are in a solid position, and the double central defender is in addition to the local newcomer Aliou, and the other is likely to be Nisami of the Caraola echelon.

At the heart of Qatar's youth squad is captain Hassan, who was named for the senior national team for the first time last June and has made 11 appearances to date, including five starts and two half-time substitutes, with two goals and two assists. Left winger Gudda and right winger Al Jashd also made their international debuts in June last year, and Jashid was also the first Indian international in Qatar's senior national team. In addition, homegrown centre-back Aliou has featured in league and cup competitions this season. Moreover, the age of the players in the Qatar national youth team is generally young. As many as 10 players are Under-18s, including first-choice centre-back Nissami, midfielder Eide, winger Al Jashid, and even one Under-17 player.

After last year's U20 Asian Cup qualifiers, the Qatar national youth team played five warm-up matches. They lost 2-1 to Chile and were drawn by Yemen and Syria in succession, but recently defeated Uzbekistan (1-0) and Thailand (2-0) and kept clean sheets. The three goals came from three core players with senior international resumes, Hassan, Guda and Jashd, who will be dangerous figures that the Chinese national youth team must pay close attention to in the first game.