Qatar kept their Asian Cup hopes alive with a brilliant 2-0 win – featuring one of the goals of the tournament – over China on Thursday.
Having lost the tournament opener to Uzbekistan 2-0, the hosts needed a win against one of the favourites and delivered thanks to a first-half double from enigmatic striker Yousef Ahmed.
Qatar manager Bruno Metsu re-shuffled his pack and bolstered his attacking options, bringing in Ahmed, Mohammed Kasola and Mohammed Al-Sayed in the place of Hussein Yasser, Jarallah Ali and Fabio Cesar.
Chinese boss Gao Hongbo also lived up to his promise to rotate by making three changes to the side that defeated Kuwait 2-0, including the recall of goalkeeper Zeng Cheng in place of Yang Zhi.
Qatar made the most of a high-octane beginning, with striker Sebastian Soria troubling the Chinese defence in front of more than 30,000 fans at the Khalifa International Stadium in Doha.
Gao’s side struggled to get out of their half in the early stages and should have been a goal behind after 10 minutes when Soria failed to make the most of a lucky deflection, blazing wide from close range when it seemed easier to score.
The scare shocked China into life and they began to pump the ball into the box, attempting to make the most of a perceived weakness in the Qatar defence.
China had a chance of their own to take the lead, but Gao Lin’s deflected shot was well saved by the acrobatic Qasem Burhan and Ahmed nearly made them pay, firing into the side netting after a quick counter-attack exposed holes in the China defence.
But less than a minute after he hit the side netting, Ahmed scored with a strike that will be hard to top at the tournament.
The 22-year-old chested down a header, turned and controlled the ball on his thigh before smashing an unstoppable strike past Zeng that swerved into the top-left corner from beyond the penalty area.
China attempted to draw level with Yu Hai going close but they were once again shocked by Ahmed, who scored his second on the stroke of half-time.
A long throw was flicked on by his strike partner Soria and again Ahmed showed brilliant control to trap the ball with one touch, before turning and shooting.
Chinese captain Du Wei had perhaps allowed Ahmed too much time on the ball and was made to pay as the striker’s shot – again from outside the 18-yard box – crept into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
It sparked wild celebrations from the crowd, who knew a two-goal advantage at half-time would be hard to beat.
The second half petered out as Qatar sat back, content with their advantage, while China lacked that little bit of quality in the final third.
Substitute Yang Xu produced a neat turn-and-shot just after half-time but his effort flashed past the post, while Soria could have killed off the contest after showing great touch and speed to break clear from the Chinese defence, only to see his shot go wide.
Ahmed was substituted to a standing ovation after 63 minutes as Qatar – who looked shaky early – coped easily with a Chinese attack that never looked like scoring once they had given up the lead.
Their night was summed up when Rong Hao’s free-kick from beyond 30 yards flew well over the bar as the match drew to a close.
Both sides are now on three points from two Group A fixtures and have it all to play for in their final group matches, with China facing group leaders Uzbekistan and Qatar taking on pointless Kuwait.
Thu 13 January, 2011
