Happy to play against strong teams - Popov

Apr 14, 2015 - 10:14:59 | Ismail Affan
Maldives national team coach Velizar Popov

Male’, MALDIVES – Maldives national team coach, Velizar Popov has said that he is happy to play against strong teams like China and Qatar in the second round of 2018 FIFA World Cup qualification in Asia.

“I am happy to play against strong teams like China and Qatar because only when you play against the best teams you can improve.”

“China and Qatar are the favorites, but when the match starts there will be 11 players in each team. So nothing is impossible.”

In the draw ceremony held at JW Marriott Hotel in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia today, Maldives lies in group C along with Peoples Republic of China, Hong Kong, Qatar and Bhutan.

“Our target is to win the match against Qatar and after that our next target would be to win against Hong Kong, and in the end we’ll see what will be the table.” Bulgarian born tactician added.

Speaking exclusively to Maldivesoccer.com, Popov said that he’ll try his best to win all the games and he’s already focused for the first match in qualification round against Qatar in Male

“I will try my best to win every game and now I am concentrating on the first game against Qatar here in Male.”

“It’s a normal draw and it’s about the point of view, for some it can be better draw and for others it can be worst. But I don’t care because we can’t choose our opponents.”

Maldives will play their first match against Qatar on 11th June at National Football Stadium.

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Velizarfan on Apr 15
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Thanx for givin hope for Maldivian football fans!!! U can do it coach!! We got your back!!! Nothing is impossible we can win over Qatar !!!! We want a confident coach like you----Thankyou Velizar Popov and Fam----
Imma on Apr 15
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I checked on a Qatari fansite and they're being very disrespectful towards us, much like the Iranian fans back in 2011. They are convinced that they can thrash us in both games. I hope that we manage to prepare well for the matches. Of course, Popov is going to demand this. Hopefully this will be a very competitive Dhivehi Premier League season, meaning the players will be well prepared for a tough run of matches for the national team. I also hope we don't get overconfident against Hong Kong and Bhutan. Hong Kong, especially, are a very strong unit. They are in pot 5 because they've been playing against very strong opposition, even holding Uzbekistan to draws in the last Asian Cup qualifiers. Bhutan have also improved a lot as they've been working very hard to prepare for these qualifiers. Let's keep our heads down and work for this!
footballmad on Apr 17
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Also couldn't help noticing on FIFA website that Qatar are to play two friendlies against 2 strong nations before playing against us. Are we resigned to the fact that the Tajikistan match are all we can afford and hope for the best now?
footballmad on Apr 16
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That's the spirit we need! We can do it but we won't be naively overconfident. The fans should go to the leaguer matches and identify the best players in form, not to mention the youngsters appearing through the recently introduced youth structure and club trials.

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