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Ecuador captain Enner Valencia was the match winner against Qatar
Photo:
ODD ANDERSEN v AFP
The Qatar national football team became the first host team in history to lose the opening game of a World Cup.
At the start against Ecuador, Qatar drew 0-2 (0-2), both goals were scored by the Ecuadorian captain Enner Valencia (16th and 31st minute).
Qatar started the game weakly and were lucky in the third minute when a goal from Valencia, where goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb played very clumsily, was disallowed for a previous offside position.
Ecuador's captain was still the decisive man.
After a through ball, Valencia appeared alone in front of Al-Sheeb and rounded him.
The Qatari keeper reached out as he fell and contacted the ankle to trip Valencia for a penalty.
Valencia stepped up themselves and casually pushed in the bottom right (16th).
Qatar barely got out of their own half and quickly conceded the second goal as well.
Again it was Valencia who headed perfectly into the left corner (31st).
The cross came from full-back Ángelo Preciado on the right wing.
Qatar almost no chance against Ecuador
Before the tournament, Qatar had been difficult to assess.
In 2019, the team won the Asian Cup and reached the semi-finals of the American Gold Cup as visiting teams, but since then they have been heavily closed to the public.
The opening game against Ecuador revealed how weak the hosts are.
At the break, the Qatari didn't have a shot at the Ecuadorian goal and only had one touch of the ball in the opposition's penalty area.
Goal scorer Almoez Ali had this with a header that went wide of the goal to the left (45+5).
The game lost momentum in the second half.
Ecuador remained the stronger team and were threatened by a flick from left winger Romario Ibarra, but this time Al-Sheeb was able to make a safe save (57').
Qatar's best effort was a shot from substitute Mohammed Muntari, who shot a little too high from the edge of the box at full speed (86').
With the opening defeat against what is probably the most feasible opponent in Group A, it should be difficult for the hosts to survive the preliminary round.
Qatar will continue against Senegal on Friday (2 p.m.), while Ecuador will play the Netherlands on the same day (5 p.m.).
mrk