2015 AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers
Group D - Matchday 1
18:30 local time (GMT +3)
Jassim bin Hamad Stadium - Al Sadd Club
Doha, Qatar
Qatar vs. Malaysia
Qatar will kick off their 2015 AFC Asian Cup campaign today when they host Malaysia at Jassim bin Hamad stadium in Doha.
It will be Fahd Thani's first official match in charge of Al Annabi. The 39-year-old coach replaced Brail's Paulo Autuori who parted company with Qatar Football Association after the dismal performance of his team in the 2013 Gulf Cup in Bahrain.
He made his debut with the team last week as they defeated Lebanon 1-0 in a friendly thanks to a scond half strike from Al Sadd's Abdul Karim Hassan.
The 19-year-old left winger is one of the players expected to get more chances with Al Annabi after his impresive performances in the league this season. Thani made a number of changes that included replacing a number of experienced players with young and energitic ones.
Al Annabi is expected to easily book a place in Australia 2015 through this group that also includes Bahrain and Yemen, as top the top teams will make it directly to the final, and the third placed team might also have a chance.
Despite high expectations of an comfortable win against Malaysia today, the south east Asian team might not be an easy opponent.
The "Malayan Tigers" achieved good results in recent years, winning the ASEAN Football Championship in 2010 and reaching the semi finals of last year's edition. The AFF Championship is the region's top competition and was formerly known as Tiger Cup.
The players to watch in this squad are midfielder Mohamed Shamsuddin and striker Abdul Hadi Yahya, both are former top scorers of Malaysian Super League, and might cause some trouble for the Annabi defense today.