Marcello Lippi continues to hold out hope China can secure a place at the World Cup finals, despite the nation's struggles so far in qualifying for Russia 2018.
China are bottom of their group in the final round of Asia's qualifying campaign with just one point from their first four games, and Lippi will lead his new side into their meeting with Qatar knowing China must pick up all three points to have any hope of resurrecting their campaign.
"I am very glad to be back here to start a new journey," said Lippi, who took over the role last month after Gao Hongbo resigned. "It will be a very difficult mission for me to lead this team to qualify for the Russian World Cup. We have a tough road ahead.
"We are aware of how tough it will be, but we will do our best. We have to invest all our passion and effort. It is not only about tactics and skills, but also faith and confidence.
"I hope this team can make a miracle by qualifying for Russia. But if not, we should focus more on the eventual improvement of the team."
Lippi struck an optimistic tone ahead of the game against a Qatari side that is also struggling, having secured just three points in the group, while naming former Asian player of the year Zheng Zhi as captain.
Zheng led Lippi's Guangzhou Evergrande team to three Chinese Super League titles and the Asian Champions League crown in 2013, but was dropped for the last two matches by former coach Gao.
"I believe that the China national team has the capacity to play beautiful football," said Lippi. "We should build our own style. We have very, very talented players, and the current ranking doesn't match this team's true quality. We should be in a better place.
"Our players have trained so hard with their strong desire and passion. They have now realised their own abilities and their tactical potential throughout this period. They know they are not weaker than any of our opponents. To keep our hope alive, our target in this match is three points.
"Zheng Zhi was my captain in Guangzhou, he was also the captain of the national team and of course he is again the captain this time. Feng Xiaoting can also be the skipper. A team needs more than one captain.
"Now we are at the bottom of the group. We need points and we only have one now. It is extremely difficult. Our qualification is only theoretically alive now. Our work should focus on mid- and long-term development.
"Of course if we can make it to Russia, it will be a great thing, but if we can't we should think about long term."