A superb free-kick from Guangzhou Evergrande’s Liao Lisheng had opened the scoring for China just before half-time, with both sides looking to match Iran’s earlier 2-0 win over Syria in the Group A opener.
Ahmed Alaa (left) scored within a minute of coming on as a substitute.
But after Al Sadd left-back Hassan headed home a 65th minute corner to level the tie, the 22-year-old netted an early contender for goal of the tournament seven minutes later before substitute Ahmed Alaa added a third inside the final 10 minutes as Felix Sanchez’s side secured all three points.
“I think we played generally a good game. The team was serious and well organised,” said Qatar coach Sanchez.
“In the first half we started a little nervously, maybe because it was the first game which we know is always difficult, but after that we had more control.
“We conceded a goal from a free-kick but in the second half we started with the mentality that we wanted to go for the game. We changed some players and positions and the players did very well and were focused on the three points.
“The game was as we expected. We were unlucky in the first half because of the goal and we also missed some chances, but in the second half we were more effective.”
China enjoyed the better of the opening exchanges but it was hosts Qatar who came the closet to breaking the deadlock after 20 minutes as Moez Ali’s close-range effort from a tight angle beat goalkeeper Du Jia but somehow clipped the inside of the near post before spinning across the goal-line to safety.
And the visitors nearly took full advantage of the moment of fortune as Xie Pengfei had the ball in the back of the Qatar net 13 minutes before half-time following Zhang Yuning’s through ball, but the assistant referee’s flag quickly cut short any celebrations.
But it did not take long for China to take the lead as Guangzhou’s Liao expertly guided a free-kick from 25 yards up and over the Qatar wall and into the bottom corner out of the reach of goalkeeper Muhannad Naim two minutes before half-time.
Qatar looked for a response after the break, but the home side struggled for quality in the final third against a hard-working and well-organised backline.
But China’s resistance was broken just three minutes later as Hassan met a left wing corner with an unstoppable downward header from inside the six yard area.
And Hassan completed the turnaround just seven minutes later with a stunning strike as the Al Sadd left-back, after a quick one-two with Asad, rifled a vicious strike from 25 yards into the far corner past the despairing dive of China goalkeeper Du.
The double blow left the visitors stunned and Qatar sealed the win with eight minutes remaining as Alaa capped a fine flowing counterattack with a simple close-range finish from Akram Afif’s pass before China’s Xu Xin was sent-off in stoppage time.
“It is a pity we lost the match because we played well in the first half but in the second half, after our opponents scored , we then had some problems,” said China coach Fu Bo.
“Both teams played well in both halves. We will try our best in the next two games and we hope to achieve good results.
“We noticed some problems in the defence and that is why we substituted players. We will look for consistency to solve this problem.”
