Two months from WC, Qatar emerge from training lockdown

All their games since June 2nd have been behind closed doors and the Qatar Football Association has even kept sponsors away from training camps in Spain and Austria as they prepare players for a baptism of fire - a World Cup debut on home territory - in 60 days.

Having spent tens of billions of dollars preparing for the first World Cup in an Arab nation, Qatar is desperate to see the national side get past the first round where they are grouped with Netherlands, Senegal and Ecuador.

But they lost 3-0 to a Croatia under-23 team behind closed doors on Tuesday. And while public games in Vienna against Canada on Friday and Chile on Tuesday are only friendlies, they will still be seen as a key test of how much steel Spanish coach Felix Sanchez has put into the side.