Hosts Qatar power past Palestine to reach AFC Asian Cup last eight
DOHA - Impressive Qatar continued to show steel and cohesiveness as the defending champions booked their place in the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 quarter-finals with a 2-1 comeback win over Palestine at Al Bayt Stadium on Monday.
With the win, the host nation are set to return to Al Bayt Stadium to face the winners of the Uzbekistan and Thailand last 16 tie on Saturday, while Palestine’s journey ends after a historic first knockout stage appearance and six goals scored, having previously only ever netted one AFC Asian Cup goal in six matches across the 2015 and 2019 editions.
Emotions flowed as a young girl in the crowd held up a sign that said “Sorry Palestine” after the final whistle.
Palestine coach Makram Daboub said he was proud of his “champions” as their best Asian Cup came to an end in the last 16.
Daboub said his players “gave everything despite the very difficult circumstances”.
“I can’t ask any more of them – they have honoured Palestinian football,” he said.
Palestine were playing in the knockout rounds for the first time and, against the backdrop of the war in Gaza.
After a cagey start to the game, the first challenge for Meshal Barsham came in the 19th minute when Amid Mahajna tried his luck from 25 yards out, but the Qatari goalkeeper made a fine diving save.
Barsham was called into action again minutes later when Mahmoud Abu Warda moved into the free space down the left flank and met Zeid Qunbar’s lay-off with the outside of his left boot, but once more the Qatar keeper was able to make the save.
It was third time lucky for the Palestinians when Oday Dabbagh took matters into his own hands, embarking on a mazy solo run and making his way past two Qatari defenders before aiming for and finding the bottom corner of the goal to open the scoring with his third AFC Asian Cup goal eight minutes before the break.
Dabbagh’s strike was the first goal Qatar conceded in the tournament, and only the second in the AFC Asian Cup since 2015.
Seconds before the first half came to a close, Akram Afif and Hassan Al Haydos combined from the corner-kick just like they did for the winner against China. This time, Afif’s delivery was along the floor and Al Haydos made the run towards the penalty spot before hitting it first-time, his shot was deflected off Musab Al Battat and landed in the back of the Palestine net for the equaliser.
The hosts picked up right where they left off after the restart and their attacking momentum forced defender Mohammed Saleh into a mistake as he caught Almoez Ali inside the box with a sliding tackle. Afif stepped up and emphatically converted home his side’s second. The playmaker’s goal and assist on the night took his tally to 17 goal contributions in the AFC Asian Cup, including 12 assists, three times as many as any other player in the tournament since 2011.
Afif came close to doubling his tally for the night late into the second half when he lined-up a free-kick from 20 yards out, curling it past the defensive wall, but his shot passed just over the crossbar.
Goalkeeper Rami Hamada made a confident save to deny Qatar a third goal through Abdulaziz Hatem’s strike from the edge of the box and at the other end, Islam Batran looked to find the net from distance but skied his effort for the game to end with a 2-1 win for the hosts.
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