China head coach Aleksandar Jankovic said on Sunday that his team will focus on themselves and try their best to advance to the knockout stages of the AFC Asian Cup.

Aleksandar Jankovic, head coach of China, is seen before the Group A match between China and Lebanon at AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 in Doha, Qatar, Jan. 17, 2024. (Xinhua/Jia Haocheng)

In Group A's third round of matches on Monday, China, with two points, will take on Qatar, who has already won the group with two wins from two games. Jankovic's side drew 0-0 in both their previous games against Tajikistan and Lebanon, and needs a win to guarantee a place in the last 16.

"Qatar is the host team and defending champion, and they are now in a very good moment with two consecutive wins that makes our challenge even bigger," Jankovic said. "But we are privileged and motivated to win the match and qualify for the knockout stage."

"We can decide our own destiny. That's a very clear message I want to convey to the team," he added.

Jankovic noted that he did not care whether Qatar, having already qualified, would rotate their starting lineup for the match. "Now I focus on ourselves. How to attack, how to defend, and where are their weaknesses. I don't know about their rotations, but our target remains the same."

"It's very simple. It's an 11 versus 11 match, with 90 minutes on the field. We prepared the game to win, so we don't need to look at the results of other matches," he said.

China midfielder Wang Shangyuan vowed that he would fight as if playing the last match of his career. "The group situation is clear. We have respect for Qatar, but we will try our best to win and enter the next round."

Qatar head coach Bartolome Marquez Lopez implied that he would seek to rotate his squad on Monday. "I have a very strong team of 26 players, and I will choose the right players to play. Our supporters come to the stadium and expect for a win, our target is always to win and get nine points in the group."

"Wu Lei, who used to play for Espanyol [in Spain's La Liga], is a dangerous player. Although China didn't score in the first two matches, they created many chances. It's a very organized team, and tomorrow will be a difficult match," Lopez noted.

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