This year's World Cup in Qatar is already shaping up to be a special event.
The global event, which will be the first to be held in a Muslim nation in the Middle East, has been moved from the summer to the cooler months of November and December due to the intense heat. Matches will be held in stadiums with air conditioning.
The national squad is also adopting a novel strategy for training by spending six months at a training camp together.
Before facing Ecuador on November 21 in their opening Group A match, Felix Sanchez's team will play a series of friendlies with the 27-member roster they assembled last month.
Prior to traveling to Austria, where they will compete in a four-team tournament against Jamaica, Morocco, Ghana, and other World Cup participants, the initial portion of the camp was held in Spain.
A source from one of the Qatar Super League (QSL) teams told BBC Sport that while the idea is not entirely absurd, it is still an odd thing to do.
They ought to do it for a shorter period of time since it is simply too long.
It might be challenging mentally to remove players from competitive games.
"Spending so much time together is challenging.
The players could decide to end the camp early if they experience mental exhaustion."
The inspiration for the notion appears to come from 20 years ago, when South Korea, one of the co-hosts of the World Cup, trained for five months before making an unexpected run to the semifinals, where they were heartbreakingly defeated by Germany.Prior to hosting the competition, a
concerted effort will be made to develop teamwork and understanding and work on tactics prior to hosting the competition. Modes: Standard
But teams in the domestic QSL will be without their key players for the opening seven games, meaning players such as forward Almoez Ali of Al-Duhail and winger Akram Afif, who plays for champions Al-Sadd, will be deprived of competitive matches. "Not playing competitively is the biggest drawback," added the source. "There is nothing to win or lose in friends. But by having them all together, they can play more solidly, with a better identity as a collective, because they are not so strong individually. "They are not training all the time though - they can bring their families to stay over and have free time with them or allow them to come back to Qatar for a few days.
However, teams in the domestic QSL will be without their star players for the first seven games, depriving players like Almoez Ali, a forward for Al-Duhail, and Akram Afif, a winger for champions Al-Sadd, of opportunities to play in competitive games.
The source continued, "Not playing competitively is the biggest negative."
In friendship, there is nothing to gain or lose.
But because they are not as good individually, playing as a group allows them to play more solidly and with a stronger sense of identity.
"Although they can invite their family to remain and enjoy some spare time with them or enable them to travel back to Qatar for a few days, they are not required to train constantly.
If not, it will resemble an army camp, and this is not the national mentality.
In their World Cup group, Qatar will also play Senegal (25 November) and the Netherlands (29 November).
Following objections from fan organizations concerned with human rights, championship team Watford called off a friendly match against Qatar scheduled to take place in Austria last month.
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