Qatar send Yasser home

Yasser, 28, who has played for European clubs Royal Antwerp, Braga and AEL Limassol and was once the books of Manchester United and Manchester City, has left the Qatar training camp and returned to his Egyptian side Al Zamalek.

"Yasser was removed because his response wasn't up to the expectations and he was absent from some training sessions," team manager Abdulrahman Al Mahmoud said on the Qatar Football Association website.

Yasser was substituted in the hosts' opening 2-0 defeat by Uzbekistan and was an unused replacement in the Group A wins over China and Kuwait.

A win for Qatar over three-times champions Japan at the Al Gharafa Stadium on Friday would mean a first semi-final appearance in the tournament for the tiny Gulf nation.

A slight, flamboyant winger-forward, Yasser was born in Qatar to Egyptian parents and was widely touted as the rising star of Arab football.

But his physique and a reported poor attitude have seen him fail to settle, although until this incident Zamalek coach Hossam Hassan appeared to have harnessed his talent.