Qatar pays the price for the absence of players from the official competitions at the opening of the World Cup

Qatar paid the price for the absence of international players from official competitions since the end of last season and lack of experience at the global level, after losing to Ecuador at the opening of the FIFA World Cup today, Sunday.

Qatar is participating in the World Cup for the first time, and the National Federation decided to keep the players away from participating with their clubs since the start of the current local season and to be content with preparing and playing friendly matches, hoping to be at the peak of readiness with the arrival of the decisive moment.

But in reality the moment of truth was harsh for the 2019 Asian champions.

Qatar scored three times in the first half, but the video assistant referee intervened to save the host after a mistake by goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb in the third minute, and it was counted as offside by a narrow margin.

"We weren't focused in the first half, especially in the first half hour," Al-Sheeb told BN Sports.

In the second half, we appeared better.”

"Maybe we were suffering from confusion and made some mistakes, and, God willing, we will try to correct them in the next match," he added.

Although the Qatar players had the experience of playing matches after defeating Japan in the Asian Cup final three years ago, most of the players were nervous.

Michael Estrada took advantage of the space in the heart of Qatar's defense to pass the ball to Valencia, who raced towards the goal and was fouled by Gray.

Italian referee Daniele Arosato did not hesitate to award a penalty kick, which Valencia executed quietly to the left of the Qatari goalkeeper.

clear superiority

Ecuador, whose starting line-up has all but goalkeeper Hernan Galíndez playing abroad, was clearly shown the edge thanks to Brighton & Hove Albion's Moses Caicedo, as well as strikers and Valencia.

Qatar's position worsened when Angelo Preciado sent a cross pass, which Valencia turned with a header to the right of the graying goalkeeper in the 31st minute.

With the absence of midfield support for the attacking duo Al-Moez Ali and Akram Afif, Qatar did not hit any ball on the goal in the first half, and its attempts before the break were limited to a header from Al-Moez above the goal.

Despite Qatar's reliance on five players in defense, Ecuador continued to make spaces between the midfield and defense lines.

Valencia ran across the field to the left and sent a cross pass that passed between the duo, Romario Ibarra and Estrada.

Al-Sheeb saved his goal from Ibara's shot, in a clear continuation of Qatar's suffering on the defensive side.

The Ecuadorean players lived up to the expectations of their coach, Gustavo Alfaro.

Qatar will need to recover quickly before facing African champions Senegal on Friday in a confrontation that could be decisive, as the Asian champions fear that they will be the fourth country to host the competitions and deposit the tournament in the first round after Switzerland 1954, Chile 1962 and South Africa 2010.

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