The Spaniard was happy to see his players showing their quality at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium but stressed that the challenge is being able to replicate the performance on a more consistent basis.
Despite dominant win over North Korea, Qatar’s hopes of qualifying to the World Cup directly are out of their hands. Qatar is nine points behind Group A leaders Iran and six adrift of second-placed Uzbekistan, with only the top two teams to qualify automatically for next year’s global showpiece. However, the third and fourth-placed teams will advance to a playoff where another two berths to the World Cup will be at stake and Qatar are right in the mix for it.
“The players performed admirably in terms of tactical discipline and adherence to instructions, which led us to an important victory, making what’s ahead remain even more important,” said Garcia.
“I’m proud of the players’ performance, and we have to continue this upward trend. I believe all the players in the national team know how important it is to win the three remaining matches. The three points were a step towards correcting the course, and we look forward to continuing in the same vein, especially in the next round against Kyrgyzstan in five days.”
Three goals in the space of 18 first half minutes through Akram Afif, Ahmed Alganehi and an own goal from Kim Yu-song put Qatar in a dominant position at the interval before further strikes from Ahmed al-Rawi and Ahmed Alaadin put the seal on a comfortable win.
Captain Afif turned in another fine performance for the reigning Asian Cup champions as he also claimed three assists and just like his head coach, is determined to keep the run going. “This victory was necessary at this sensitive time in the qualifiers,” said Afif. “We promise our fans that we will continue our efforts to achieve positive results in the upcoming matches to secure direct qualification to the World Cup. It was an important match, as we needed to win. We will try to continue our winning streak in the remaining three rounds,” Afif said.
Iran move within a point of securing a fourth consecutive World Cup spot
Iran head coach Amir Ghalenoei hailed his players’ spirit after their 2-0 victory over the United Arab Emirates on Thursday. Ghalenoei reserved special praise for goalkeeper Alireza Beiranvand for keeping Iran in the game early on as they remained at the top of Group A and moved within a point of securing a fourth consecutive FIFA World Cup appearance.
“Congratulations to Beiranvand. In the opening minutes, he came out on top in one-on-one situations and I dedicate this win to him. The Emiratis brought very high-quality players and they were much better. We weren’t very good in the first half, but we got better in the second half,” said Ghalenoei.
“Thank God, we have taken this path in difficult circumstances after the Asian Cup. I feel like I am a blessed coach because I have good students. Every time the games are over, I miss these players.”
Despite defeat, UAE head coach Paulo Bento emphasised that his team had moments where they could have changed the outcome of the game.
“I knew we would have a tough game against Iran, who are top of the group. We tried to have a balanced game but we conceded a goal due to a mistake,” said Bento.
“We had good conditions in the first half but overall, Iran had more possession of the ball. I think we were better in the second half. We had to change the system in the second half and reduced our defence from five to four players. Now this game is over and we have to think about the next game. Right now we are only focused on the next game. There are many possibilities for qualification, but we are only thinking about the next game against North Korea,” added Bento.
Meanwhile, Uzbekistan inched closer to realising their World Cup dreams with head coach Timur Kapadze not unduly worried about his misfiring frontline in Thursday’s Group A tie against Kyrgyzstan.
Despite playing against 10 men and registering 26 attempts, nine of which were on target, Uzbekistan only managed a 1-0 win but Kapadze chose to look at the bigger picture as the win kept his side firmly entrenched in second place and their fate very much in their own hands. “We won today, maybe we could have scored more goals but the important thing was the victory,” said Kapadze.
“Maybe if we had scored a goal earlier, the score would have been different but the opponents also defended well. After the red card, a lot changed. We knew that the opponents would also be fighting for points. But since we were playing at home, we had to win without giving them a chance. Maybe it would have been easier for us if the opponents had 11 men. We had many chances. Maybe we saved the goals for the next games.”
On 16 points, Uzbekistan meet table-toppers Iran next and victory on Tuesday will take them ever closer to a debut FIFA World Cup appearance.
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