Al Thawadi: Copa América helps us prepare better for the World Cup 2022
The General Secretary of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy discussed Qatar's participation in the tournament: "I'm proud of their performance".
Hassan Al Thawadi, the Secretary General of the Supreme Committee for Delivery and Legacy of the Qatar World Cup, discussed the participation of Qatar in the Copa América 2019, being held in Brazil, and said he thought it was an important step in the country's preparations for the World Cup in 2022.
Qatar performed well in Brazil
"I'm proud of the national team's performance at the Copa América. The players had a good game against Paraguay, just lost to Colombia and played with confidence against Argentina, with Lionel Messi presence", said Al Thawadi at a press conference.
The Qatari civil servant added: "Getting a point from three games doesn't reflect badly on the side, above all when all the international football experts were of the opinion that the Qatar team were one of the best playing in the tournament. The quality shown by the team is a huge motivation to carry on focusing on the best preparation possible for the World Cup 2022.
"At every tournament where the side takes part, the Committee values being able to pick up experience in every area and to learn from everything you can see at the leading competitions.
"Equally, we like to be at the biggest tournaments to present the team [to the world] and the footballing culture in Qatar and the Arab countries, to demonstrate our passion for football and correct the inaccuracies that some believe", said the general secretary.
El Thawadi finished by saying, "What's more, we're holding an exhibition during the Copa América, which includes several shirts from various tournaments, and tickets to a number of World Cup matches, from the first World Cup, held in 1930, to the most recent, in Russia.