El Salvador and Qatar continue their preparations for the CONCACAF Gold Cup with a friendly international at Stadion Aldo Drosina on Sunday evening.
Both teams have recently put together seven-match unbeaten streaks, runs which they will want to extend before their opening game of the upcoming tournament.
Match preview
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On the back of their appearance at the 2019 Copa America, it came as no real surprise when Qatar were provided with the opportunity to feature in this year's Gold Cup.
However, while the Crimsons valued experience over results two years ago, Felix Sanchez and his squad will be targeting progression through to the knockout stages of the upcoming tournament.
Aside from the heavy defeat to Ghana upon their return to action last October, Qatar have put together a respectable run of results, the most notable being a 1-1 draw with Republic of Ireland.
When you add a share of the spoils against Costa Rica and victories over Luxembourg and Azerbaijan to the mix, there are plenty of reasons to predict a groundbreaking run for Qatar.
A group involving Honduras, Grenada and Panama has provided them with every chance, but Sanchez will first look to extend their recent run of six wins and a draw.
While El Salvador can boast a similar record of five triumphs and two draws, their results have been achieved against weaker opposition.
Nevertheless, six clean sheets have been recorded during those fixtures with 451 minutes having passed since they conceded against Montserrat at the end of March.
Hugo Perez will feel that a 6-0 reverse at the hands of the United States in 2020 is now out of their system, but improvements are required if they are to reach the Gold Cup quarter-finals for the fourth time in eight attempts.
Newcower Joshua Perez is emerging as a key man for El Salvador, the Ibiza forward netting three times in five appearances for his country last month.
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Team News
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Barring any late fitness issues, Sanchez could name the Qatar players which started the 1-0 victory over Oman last month.
Musab Khoder and Hasan Al-Haydos both sustained injuries during that fixture, but the pair will expect to feature on Sunday.
With just a week to go before their first Gold Cup fixture, Perez may select his strongest El Salvador XI for this contest.
The same team which posted a goalless draw with Guatemala could be named with Perez persisting with a 3-5-2 formation.
Jairo Henriquez is an alternative in midfield if Perez wishes to introduce some fresh legs.
El Salvador possible starting lineup:
Gonzalez; Villalobos, Dominguez, Tamacas; Portillo, Orellana, Mayen, Portillo, Larin; Perez, Rugamas
Qatar possible starting lineup:
Al-Sheeb; Salman, Al-Rawi, Khoukhi; Khoder, Hatem, Al-Haydos, Boudiaf, Hassan; Ali, Muntari
We say: El Salvador 1-2 Qatar
While the fixture is being played on a neutral venue in Croatia, we feel that will only favour Qatar. The 2022 World Cup hosts have become used to travelling the globe in recent years, and that could help them edge out their well-matched opponents.
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