‘We will have to recover and prepare for the semi-finals, where we are hoping for a strong performance’
Qatar’s head coach Felix Sanchez was a proud man after his men dismantled the United Arab Emirates 5-0 to enter the semi-finals of the FIFA Arab Cup on Friday night.
In front of 63,439 fans – the highest attendance for a football match in the history of Qatar – at the Al Bayt Stadium, the Asian Champions turned on the style taking a 5-0 lead going into the break for an emphatic victory. Qatar, looking to cap their year with a maiden Arab Cup title, went into the match as the favourites after a perfect record of three wins in Group A. UAE, on the other hand, were looking to upset the hosts after advancing as the Group B runners-up.
Qatar, however, raced off the blocks and their early pressure paid dividends as UAE’s Ali Salmin netted into his own net. The early goal boosted Qatar as they pressed hard, doubling their lead in the 28th minute through Almoez Ali’s penalty. A VAR review in the 36th minute saw Qatar awarded another penalty, with Boualem Khoukhi stepping up to convert.
To the delight of their fans, Abdulaziz Hatem made it 4-0 in the 40th minute but Qatar were not done yet, with Ali scoring his second of the night in first half stoppage time. With their place in the semi-finals sealed, Qatar took their foot off the pedal in the second half as they set their sights on their last four challenge.
Sanchez felt his team was getting stronger as the tournament progressed. “The most positive aspect is that the team is getting stronger after each match. I am proud of my team because it is putting its best effort,” the Spaniard said.
“We showed a strong performance in the first half which made the second half comfortable for us. Fans created a great atmosphere and helped us in the victory. We will have to recover and prepare for the semi-finals, where we are hoping for a strong performance,” the Qatar coach added.
Midfielder Hatem, who scored Al Annabi’s fourth goal in the quarter-final said to be among the top four teams in the Arab world was a great honour. “We are delighted to be in the semi-finals of this important tournament. We started the match strongly and exploited the UAE mistakes very well. Fans really helped us in our performance with their all-out support,” said Hatem. “Now our target is to reach the final for which we will give our best,” the 31-year-old added.
UAE handed two penalties to the home side on Friday, leaving their coach Bert van Marwijk ruing the “catastrophic mistakes”. “First of all, it’s the first experience in my life, in my whole career. It sounds crazy, but in the first half we played good football. Only that actually we made all the goals ourselves, at least four. We made catastrophic mistakes. If you make such mistakes, the goals, then you get a game like this. It’s crazy. This happens in football, but it does not happen often,” the 69-year-old added.
“We did our utmost best all the time, we prepared the team as well as possible, very well I think, and there was confidence. You saw it in the beginning the way we play. We were better. It sounds crazy, for the third time, but if you make such mistakes... we gave the goals away ourselves.”
“This is a lesson that we should benefit from. We have developed a lot in recent times, and anyone who understands football knows that what we have done recently is a positive thing,” he added.
Meanwhile, UAE’s Ali Mabkhout said Qatar were deserving winners of the quarter-finals. “The Qatari team was better and they deserved to be in the semi-final. They took maximum advantage of our mistakes,” said the striker. Friday’s quarter-final thumping was Al Annabi’s third straight victory over the UAE in as many years following their wins in the Asian Cup semi-final (4-0) and in the Gulf Cup (4-2) in 2019.
Qatar coach Felix Sanchez. (REUTERS)
