‘ 2018 World Cup dream alive’

Doha: Jorge Fossati was officially unveiled as Qatar’s new coach on Tuesday and insisted that the 2022 host country’s “big dream” of reaching the 2018 World Cup finals was still possible. Ambitious Qatar have never qualified for a World Cup before and are aiming to do so before staging the event in 2022, but they face an uphill battle. The Uruguayan Fossati was hurriedly appointed on Saturday after Qatari football officials sacked Jose Daniel Carreno following a disastrous start to the final round of qualifying for the tournament in Russia in two years' time. “I believe that Qatar can qualify,” Fossati said in Doha. “It will be very, very difficult but I am optimistic. I believe in Qatar's possibilities.” The 63- yearold added that qualifying for Russia was a “big dream for the Qatari people”.