Hosts Qatar play Uzbekistan in FIFA World Cup qualifier

Qatar will hope to defeat Uzbekistan with a big margin and improve their goal difference to finish second  in the Group 'A' of Asian Zone 2014 FIFA World Cup qualifying match to be contested here Tuesday. For Qatar to finish second, without goal difference coming into the calculations, group leaders South Korea should defeat Iran tomorrow in their encounter at Azadi Stadium in Tehran. Hosts Qatar are currently placed third, with four points from three matches, behind second-placed Iran who also have four from as many matches. The Iranians have a better goal difference as they have scored one goal and conceded one while Qatar have scored two and conceded four goals. South Korea are leading the group with seven points from two wins and a draw. Lebanon have four points after from four matches while Uzbekistan are last in the group with three points. The home team looked upbeat ahead of the key clash in the race to qualify for the World Cup to be hosted by Brazil in 2014. Paulo Autuori's boys had a fairly good outing in two warm-up matches against Jordan and Oman after a training camp held in UAE. Although Qatar were held to a 1-1 draw by Jordan, Autuori was optimistic. "My boys played minus errors. They exploited opportunities to score and influenced key moves," he said. "Generally, it was a good game. We have good replacements. In case there is an injury or some other concern, then we have the players to fill the gap," he said. Qatar Football Association (QFA) President Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa bin Ahmed Al Thani said Qatar's friendly against Jordan was hugely "beneficial" to home team. "Jordan has quality players in their side so this match was good practice for Qatar," Sheikh Hamad said after the match. "We are trying to settle down on a combination for our game against Uzbekistan so this game helped us is many ways," he added. Speaking ahead of the match against Uzbekistan starting at 3.25pm tomorrow at Jassim bin Hamad Stadium here, Qatar midfielder Wisam Rizq said, "The support staff has done a great job with all the players. We want to make the most of the training camp in Abu Dhabi. It was good to be there." Autuori s side has played three World Cup qualifying matches in this phase. On June 12, Qatar stunned hosts Iran with a brave show to walk off Azadi Stadium with a goalless draw. The goalless draw came after a 4-1 thrashing by Korea Republic in Doha on June 8. Five days earlier Qatar beat Lebanon 1-0 on June 3. In the match against Iran, the Qatari defence, much maligned after their match against Korea, kept the Iranians at bay, hardly giving them a clear chance at goal. Qatar squad: Qasim Burhan, Baba Malick, Rajab Hamzeh, Ahmed Sufyan, Mesaad Al Hamad, Hamed Ismail, Mohammed Kasola, Taher Zakaria, Khaled Saleh, Ibrahim Maged, Ibrahim Al Ghanem, Marconi, Khaled Muftah, Wisam Rizq, Younes Ali, Talal Albloushi, Magid Siddiq, Abdulla Taleb Afifa, Hussain Ali, Abdulaziz Hatem, Lawrence Quaye, Adel Lamy, Fabioa Cesar, Khalfan Ibrahim, Hassan Alhaydous, Mohammed Alsayed Jeddou, Maged Mohammed, Mohammed Razak, Sebastian Soria, Jarralah Al Marri and Yusef Ahmed. Coach: Paulo Autuori. Team manager: Abdulrahman Al Mahmoud.