Qasim the hero as Iraq stuns Qatar in 24th Gulf Cup opener
Qatar kick-started their 24th Arabian Gulf Cup campaign on the back foot after suffering a shocking 1-2 defeat in the hands of Iraq at the Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday night.
Just as it was in 2017, so it is in 2019 as the Lions of Mesopotamia once again outfoxed the Al Annabi stars by exactly the same margin in the group stage of the region’s biggest football show with the man of the match Mohammed Qasim Majid emerging the hero with his first-half brace on the night.
Tuesday’s match was preceded by a dazzling opening ceremony with His Highness the Amir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, who also inaugurated the 24th edition of the tournament, in attendance.
Going into the match, the odds seemed to be in favor of Qatar having won eight of the last 13 international meetings between the two sides and having outscored Iraq 17-12 over these games. But on the night that mattered most, Iraq emerged the last man standing.
Watched by a capacity crowd of 37,890, Qatar started the match on a bright note with their high pressing play as they pegged the Iraqis to their half of the field for the better part of the first 15 minutes but a couple of wasted chances ensured that the advantages were not duly converted.
While Qatar wasted their chances, the Iraqis, who were without most of their first team players with coach Srecko Katanec choosing not to field any of the eight players who played for their club Al Shorta against Mauritanian side Nouadhibou in Arab Club Championship second round match on Monday, however made the most of the few chances that came their way.
Akram Afif was the first to test Iraq’s goalkeeper Jalal Hajem after a cross from Yusuf Abdurisag found him unmarked in the box.
Qatar settled quickly into the match and soon, a swift link-up play almost yielded the opener.
Afif found Almoez Ali who exchanged passes with Boualem Khoukhi, but Almoez’s final effort skidded narrowly wide for a goal-kick.
Iraq responded almost immediately as Al Duhail striker Mohannad Ali outmuscled Tarek Salman who managed to nick the ball out for a corner kick.
With Qatar having most of the possession, they continued to pile pressure on the Iraqi defense and another glorious chance came begging in the 16th minute with Afif sending a well-timed pass to Abdelkarim Hassan down the left but the left back could only smash his shot against the outside of the post. Again Karim Boudiaf saw his shot parried out to safety.
The hosts were made to rue their misses in the 18th minute as a blunder by Bassam al-Rawi gifted the Iraqis the opening goal.
From a corner kick, the ball found Mohammed Qasem and the midfielder’s seemingly harmless cross went past al-Rawi, who chose not to intercept, and the helpless Saad al Sheeb in goal.
Qatar’s task became more difficult in the 26th minute as the 22-year-old Qasim doubled the lead with a goal of the tournament contender. The midfielder caught onto a loose ball from outside the box and struck a fierce left-footed which beat al-Sheen comfortably.
“We started well and missed some chances. We couldn’t score the first one and they did. It was a big punishment because we didn’t deserve going two down but the team kept playing. We got nervous towards the end,” said coach Felix Sanchez after the match.
“The game was stopped too many times but now we move on to the next one. No time to regret and we will prepare for the next one. Nobody likes to lose especially playing at home. But this is football, but we tried unfortunately not as effective as we can. This is a strong group of players and we will be back in the next match," he said.
With defeat starring Qatar in the face, Sanchez made a change during half time with Yusuf Abdrisag making way for Abdelaziz Hatim Mohammed and the move paid dividends quickly as Hatim fired his first effort into the roof of the net two minutes into the second half as the Khalifa Stadium roared back to life.
Qatar came close to finding the equalizer many times, but the resilient Iraqi held on for a famous victory.
Qatar will now have to put the setback behind and focus on their next clash – a must-win match against Yemen on Friday to keep alive the hope of being the first country to win the tournament three times as hosts while Iraq go up against the UAE, who defeated Yemen 3-0 with a fine hat-trick from Ali Mabkhout in the other match of the day.
--
Make sure to check out our social media to keep track of the latest content.
Instagram - @qatarliving
Twitter - @qatarliving
Facebook - Qatar Living
