In Asia there is a winning coach with Barça DNA. Fèlix Sánchez Bas, brother of former Women's coach Fran Sanchez, has been proclaimed champion of the Asian Cup with the Qatar team, which he has managed since 2017.

Born in 1975, he was at the club for 10 years, and throughout this long period he was coach of the Escola and, later, in the youth sections of the Club.

With roots at FC Barcelona, ​​Felix Sanchez instilled the Barça DNA in Sergi Roberto, Marc Muniesa, Gerard Deulofeu and Martin Montoya amongst others... until in 2006 he decided to change Barcelona for Qatar, where he entered the Aspire Academy. Though he was about 7,000 kms away, the Catalan coach never lost sight of his culé ideals.

And, after years of work as a talent scout, in 2012 he became coach of the U19 Qatari national team. He led the team to glory for the first time, as champion of the Asian Cup, an unprecedented milestone in the history of the country. Later, he climbed another step, but not the last, in his career. He took charge of the Qatar U20 squad, which forms the basis of the current senior side.

Possession football in the Asia Cup

Fèlix Sánchez developed football with Barça DNA in the Asian Cup. With a solid base of 70% possession, Qatar achieved a convincing victory in the semifinals: 4-0 against the host, the Arab Emirates. Six wins in total on the way to the trophy - Lebanon, North Korea, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, South Korea and the Arab Emirates - saw a perfect record of six wins, 16 goals in favour and none against.

In the final, he defeated Japan (1-3) and was proclaimed champion.