DOHA: Hosts Qatar will be looking to seal a quarter-finals berth when they take on Syria at the AFC U-23 Championship today.

Unbeaten in two matches so far Group A leaders Qatar are coming off impressive wins over China (3-1) and Iran (2-1).

Coached by former Barcelona youth manager Felix Sanchez Qatar will be eager to keep their slate clean when they take on Syria at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium. A point from the game can give Qatar a quarter-finals berth.

“The coach has given us a plan” captain Abdelkareem Hassan said on Saturday. “We have been playing strong. We are waiting to play the next clash” he said. “We want to reach the quarter-finals and I am hopeful we are on right track” he said.

Hassan scored twice in Qatar’s 3-1 win on Tuesday against China and then against Iran on Friday.

“Now we play Syria. We will play to win” the influential striker said.

Scoring five times in two matches has given coach Sanchez satisfaction.

“To achieve six points from two games gives us confidence” Sanchez said after Qatar’s win on Friday.

“It was probably one of the best games in the competition” Sanchez said after the Iran win. “What we have to do is arrive fresh for Syria game by resting well” he added.

“We know that the time between games is very short and our main target is to recover the players to have them available for the next game” said Qatar coach Sanchez.

Sanchez said he is hoping Qatar can recover quickly after back-to-back wins.

“It’s hard to play three games in seven days but it’s the same for everyone and we have to adapt and get to the next game in the best condition” Sanchez said yesterday.

And Qatar are hoping to have the backing of another significant crowd when they take on Muhannad Al Fakeer’s Syria after seeing more than 11000 turn out for their win over Iran at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Friday.

“To have a lot of people in the stadium is a good help for the players. It’s a good environment and although they were focused on the game they enjoyed the people supporting us” added Sanchez.

Syria placed third in the group beat China 3-1 following a 0-2 loss against Iran in the tournament opener on January 12.

Syria coach Al Fakeer said he a win against Qatar would be a good way to end the preliminary stage of the three-week event.

“I believe every match has a plan and we must plan for the next match very well. We played badly in the first match and we needed a shock to play good and we saw that some players did not play well with the other players” Al Fakeer said yesterday.

“We have seven players who play outside of Syria and they came to us very late so the harmony between the players was not good in the first match. I tried to play other players who can play well with my team but every match also must have a formation” he added.

In another game today China face Iran. China coach Fu Bo has vowed his team will not be an easy prospect for Iran despite back-to-back 3-1 defeats at the hands of Qatar and Syria.

“Both matches have been the same as we have scored and then the opponent has come back into the game” said Fu who will be without goalkeeper Du Jia and midfielder Xu Xin due to suspension.

“We have talked about this and it is maybe down to our lack of experience and we need to improve that. We have told the players that they might need to go through these experiences as they grow up and become an adult player but we have confidence for the last match” he added.

Iran currently occupy second place due to a superior head-to-head record over Syria although Mohammad Khakpour’s side are not guaranteed progress even with a win over China should Syria defeat Qatar.

The Peninsula