Qatar are pooled alongside Gulf rivals Kuwait, former runners-up China and formidable Uzbekistan in Group A, but the Frenchman said a good spectator support at home and the big occasion will spur the players on.

Qatar will meet Uzbekistan in the tournament opener on January 7. The home side had mixed results when they met in the final round of Asian Zone World Cup qualification. However, Metsu is confident of a good showing this time around.

“All the teams are even on strength. It’s not going to be easy. Iraq went all the way to win the championship when nobody expected them to do so,” said the coach.

“We’ll face off with Uzbekistan first. I’m not worried because I always prefer to meet tough opponents early on. We’ll put up our best performance. Still anything can happen in football and we’ve to be prepared for tough verdicts as well. The group phase allows us a chance to come back into the competition even if something goes wrong at the beginning,” he was cautiously optimistic.

Metsu has been making full use of the breaks during the domestic league competition to organise training programmes. Qatar have also featured in many international friendlies, especially with European teams. The coach said he would continue in the right earnest and make effective use of the 20th Gulf Cup in November in Yemen before fine-tuning the team ahead of the finals.

“The Qatar Football Association has been extending the right kind of support to the national team. Everybody wants us to put up a good show. We’re confident, but we must continue the hard work to live up to the occasion. It’s a big stage,” said the coach, who managed Senegal at the 2002 World Cup in Japan and South Korea.