By NNN-Bernama
Kuantan : Qatar coach Martinus Ruijs believes his side can be the surprise package in the Champions Youth Cup tournament.
He said his team’s 1-1 draw against footballing giants Barcelona at the Darul Makmur Stadium here last night was a clear indicator of “the stuff his boys were made of”.
However, he said, anything less than a win against French club Paris Saint-Germain in their last match of Group B this Monday could be costly.
“We have to win against PSG and hope that the match between Barcelona and Juventus will end up with a winner,” he told reporters in the post-match conference last night.
Qatar are in third in the group with two points after two draws while Barcelona and Juventus share the top spot with four points. PSG who suffered their second defeat to Juventus last night were the first casualty of the group.
Ruijs’ game plan against the Catalans almost paid off but two goal scoring chances their striker Adil Ahmad Muhammad Ali failed to capitalise denied them victory.
“The 4-5-1 formation we used neutralised the movement of Barcelona’s wingers who are so effective at attacking. The only mistake we made was in not scoring more goals,” he said.
Meanwhile, Barcelona coach, Alejandro Garcia admitted that he was surprised with the result but was confident that his side would still make it to the quarterfinals.
“When Qatar equalized, the boys started to become nervous,” he said.
Barcelona opened scoring through Jorge Yepes in the 26th minute but Hasan Khalid Al Haydos levelled in the 34th minute to deny the Spaniards a win.