{"id":3048,"date":"2022-11-21T11:36:52","date_gmt":"2022-11-21T01:06:52","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.theasiangame.net\/?p=3048"},"modified":"2026-09-25T11:13:23","modified_gmt":"2026-09-25T01:43:23","slug":"qatar-crash-and-burn-in-opening-game-disaster","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.theasiangame.net\/ro\/qatar-crash-and-burn-in-opening-game-disaster\/","title":{"rendered":"Qatar crash and burn in opening game disaster"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Asian Game’s coverage of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 is proudly sponsored by SMC.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n

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Qatar\u2019s preparation for this World Cup was meticulously planned, perhaps more so than any other host nation in previous years. Every movement of the players, from where they played their club football to extended training camps year after year, was controlled to ensure they were ready for this moment; a moment 4372 in the making.<\/h3>\n\n\n\n

This was not in the plan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Coming into the opening game there were questions asked around the logic of a six-month Spanish sojourn that took them away from their club teams and away from the rhythm of week-to-week football. The fear was the team would not be ready for such a hot stage as the opening game of the World Cup.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Those fears materialised in the opening 45 minutes; a 45 minutes in which the defending Asian Cup champions looked more like a side that had been sunning themselves on a Spanish beach rather than preparing for the biggest tournament of their lifetimes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They looked like eleven deer in the headlights.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

No one player encapsulated that more than goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb who had a first half that will haunt him for years to come. His lack of conviction, first in trying to clear the ball that led to Ecuador\u2019s disallowed opener, and then in his hesitation in coming out that led to him giving away a penalty shortly after, spoke to a player that was short of match sharpness.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

It was illustrative that as the half wore on the team\u2019s best player, and their creative fulcrum, Akram Afif was dropping deeper and deeper to try to influence the game such was Qatar\u2019s inability to generate any form of possession that was capable of bringing the Al Sadd star into the game.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Ecuador, meanwhile, were finding space and gaps at will, capitalising on inexplicable and inexcusable errors from players that we know are capable of much more. Nerves can be forgiven on such a big occasion; no Qatari player ever has, or likely ever will, feature on such a stage again when the global spotlight is at its brightest.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\ud83d\udce2 FULL TIME

Qatar 0-2 Ecuador #AlAnnabi<\/a> #Qatar2022<\/a> pic.twitter.com\/aBCPefO2JG<\/a><\/p>— Qatar Football Association (@QFA_EN) November 20, 2022<\/a><\/blockquote>