Qatar's national team goalkeeper led the team to qualify for the Asian Cup semi-finals (Al Jazeera)

Doha

- “I did my duty, studied the opponents, maintained my focus, and was successful.” With these words, Mishal Barshim, the Qatari national team goalkeeper, revealed the secret of his saves of three penalty kicks against Uzbekistan in the quarter-finals of the Asian Football Cup, which gave his country a pass to the semi-finals.

Barshim's saves on penalty kicks in the Uzbekistan match did not come out of nowhere, but rather after great effort and work, whether on himself physically and mentally, or on reading and studying the opponents and anticipating their shooting trends.

With his three saves, Barshim set a record that had never been achieved before in the history of the Asian Cup, which began in 1956, as no goalkeeper had ever saved three penalty kicks in one match, and when the number of missed kicks increased to 3 or more, the goalkeepers’ saves did not exceed the barrier of two.

Watch the penalty shootout from the Qatar-Uzbekistan match (3-2)

🇶🇦⚽️ Qatar qualifies for the semi-finals of the Asian Cup Qatar 2023 #AsianCup | #AsiaCup2023 | #Qatar_Uzbekistan #AsianCup2023 pic.twitter.com/gHTKQbz6v3

— beIN SPORTS (@beINSPORTS) February 3, 2024

Record

By saving 3 penalty kicks in a major continental tournament, Barshim repeated the achievement of Portuguese goalkeeper Ricardo, who led his country to victory over England (3-1) in the quarter-finals of the 2006 World Cup in Germany, as well as the achievement of Chilean goalkeeper Claudio Bravo, who led his country to victory over Portugal (3). - Zero) and qualify for the final of the Confederations Cup in Russia 2017.

Barshim explained that penalty kicks involve luck, expectation, and reading, and that he was lucky and made him crown the efforts of his teammates by achieving victory, especially since everyone did their best and did not fall short, and some were biased against themselves and played while injured.

In response to a question from Al Jazeera Net during the press conference for the best player in the match, about the circumstances of his save of the last two kicks, Barshim revealed that a “skirmish” had occurred with Uzbekistan player Zafarmurd Abdurakhmatov, the winner of the fourth penalty kick, who tried to take him out of concentration before shooting, which provoked him and made him He was more determined and focused, and he succeeded in blocking the kick and admonishing him.

“They deserve Annabi fans” 🗣️

Man of the Match Mashal Barshim 👏🇶🇦#AsiaCup2023 | #Come onAsia | #Qatar_Uzbekistan pic.twitter.com/nrnKrNljWe

- #AsiaCup 2023 (@afcasiancup_ar) February 3, 2024

The goalkeeper of the Qatari Al-Sadd team continued that he focuses before the matches on studying the elements of the opposing team’s attack. He also knows Jalaluddin Masharipov, the fifth penalty kick kicker, well, and he previously played against him in the AFC Champions League when he was playing in Al-Nassr Saudi Arabia, and therefore he studied him well, and expected that He shot in the middle of the goal, so he did not move and waited for the ball and blocked it.

Barshim stood out in the penalty shootout against Uzbekistan, and took all five shots. He succeeded in blocking three of them, relying on his anticipation and reading of the opponents, his great agility, and the speed of his reaction.

The joy of Qatari players after qualifying for the Asian Cup semi-finals (Al Jazeera)

One man's heart

This was not the first time that Barshim (25 years old) succeeded in saving a penalty kick, as he previously led Qatar to victory over Egypt in the Arab Championship on penalty kicks (5-4), and he also succeeded in saving a penalty kick taken by Alexis Sanchez during a friendly match between Qatar and Qatar. And Chile.

The Qatar national team goalkeeper considered that qualifying for the semi-finals and continuing the campaign to defend the continental title is the result of the distinguished atmosphere among the players within the national team, as everyone plays with the heart of one man and gives his best.

Barshim stressed that his feeling of victory was indescribable, especially since the opponent was strong, pointing to the role of the Qatari fans who gathered in the stadium, which is the basic element in every victory achieved by the team.

He believed that facing the Iranian national team in the semi-finals would not be easy at all, but one must prepare well for it physically and mentally, and continue fighting on the field in order to continue the journey, preserve the title and make the fans happy.

Lopez, we will strive to perform better against the Iranian national team in the semi-finals (Al Jazeera)

Switch the hedos

In turn, Spanish coach Bartolomé Márquez Lopez referred to the manly performance of all the players and their fighting on the field during the Uzbekistan match, especially in light of facing a physically strong team, praising the great support of the fans, which had a major role in motivating the players, as he congratulated them on the victory, and asked them to continue their support. During the Iran match.

Lopez said during the press conference, "It is crazy and unreasonable for someone to ask me about the validity of substituting Hassan Al-Haydous, at a time when the national team qualified for the semi-finals. These types of questions are not important."

Lopez described assuming the task of coaching Qatar days before the start of the continental championship, and leading the national team to the semi-finals as an achievement, but he stressed that the task is not finished yet, and that there are two matches to win the title and retain it for the second time in a row.

He considered that facing the Iranian national team in the semi-finals would be difficult, but he stressed his keenness for the players to recover first after the great effort they made against Uzbekistan, and then work on studying the opponent and working to appear better than today.

Source: Al Jazeera