Losing 2-0 to Ecuador at the start of their first-ever World Cup, then 3-1 to Senegal on Friday, the emirate became the first host country eliminated before the end of the group stage. and the second, after South Africa in 2010, to go out before the knockout stages.

For a country of less than three million inhabitants - less than 15% of whom are nationals - and a team without much experience at the very highest level, achieving the objective of qualifying for the round of 16 would have been a huge success.

But, by all accounts, the inaugural match fell far short of expectations.

"Nightmarish" even for the local press.

Against Senegal, Al-Annabi (the Bordeaux) delivered "a respectable but nevertheless disappointing performance for the reigning Asian champions", according to the English-language newspaper Gulf Times.

"Our loyal supporters (...) deserved the joy of winning and continuing the competition," added the Arabic-language daily Al-Raya, urging the Federation to look into the reasons for this sporting failure.

For the former local glories interviewed by the Al-Sharq newspaper and the editor-in-chief of the Al-Watan daily, these reasons are all found in the person of coach Félix Sanchez - who arrived in Qatar in 2006 to train young talents and to head of the national team since 2017- and in the decision to prepare behind closed doors in Europe since June.

"Not appropriate"

“Even if it was him (Sanchez) who led the team to the historic feat in the Asian Cup (in 2019), that does not mean that he did not unexpectedly fail” at the World Cup , retorts in particular Fahd Al-Emadi in the columns of Al-Watan, calling for the appointment of a new coach.

Qatar coach Felix Sanchez of Spain during the World Cup match against Senegal on November 25, 2022 in Doha MANAN VATSYAYANA AFP

According to him, "the national team's preparation plan was not appropriate and removing the players from their clubs was not a success".

"Is it a failure and a disappointment? It depends on the expectations," Sanchez kicked into touch at a press conference on Friday.

"We would have liked to go further but we know our situation and our limits."

"We are a small country with a small population, with a not very competitive championship (in which the entire Qatari selection evolves, editor's note), even if we have deployed a lot of means for months to be efficient", continued the Spaniard.

"The World Cup is over (note: Qatar still has to play against the Netherlands on Tuesday) but football will not stop there," said the technician, without answering a question about his future.

"They want to keep developing young talent and we can keep playing" on the Asian scene, he added.

"That's how we'll gain experience and be able to compete in more big competitions."

At the same time, in the mixed zone, his defender Tarek Salman apologized and those of his teammates.

"We would like to tell the fans and the country that we are sorry. We make them feel bad by losing two World Cup matches in a row, he regretted. Unfortunately, it's really not good to be already eliminated..."

© 2022 AFP