Qatar’s Hassan Al Haydos (right) celebrates after scoring a penalty during their 2018 World Cup qualifying football match against Syria at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha yesterday.
DOHA: Striker Hassan Al Haydos yesterday produced the only goal of the match as hosts Qatar edged Syria 1-0 in a tense 2018 FIFA World Cup qualifying match.
Playing in front of a packed Al Sadd Stadium, Al Haydos converted a penalty kick in the 37th minute as Qatar picked up their first points in four Asian Zone qualifying matches.
The hero of the day, Al Haydos said: “I am very happy. We played really well. We created chances. We wasted a lot of chances also in the first half. This is the best three points of the qualifying season for us. We are motivated to carry on the good work.”
He added: “There was a bit of hesitation between me and Sebastian Soria as we missed chances to score. Every game is hard. We are prepared to play in the coming games also.”
Coached by Jorge Fossati, Qatar braved a physical onslaught from the Syrian players who stuck to their ‘defense first’ approach for much of the game.
In what was a cagey start to the proceedings, Syria launched their trademark physical game, bringing down Qatar players twice in the first two minutes of the game. On both occasions, referee warned Syria’s Mahmoud Al Mawas for ‘reckless foul-play’.
Qatar midfielders and strikers kept Syria defense edgy but it was the referee who was forced into play to clam frayed tempers on both sides.
In their first actual threatening move, Qatar striker Mohammed Kasola jumped high in the air but his snap-header flew past the Syrian goalmouth without causing any damage in the 19th minute.
Striker Al Haydos produced a bit of a cameo move to score the home team’s match-winning goal in the 37th minute.
Al Haydos dribbled past Moayad Al Ajan and charged into the Syria box where Zaheera Al Medani brought down the Qatar forward with a needless tackle.
The referee promptly pointed to the spot kick which was expertly converted by Al Haydos, aiming for the right of the Syrian goalkeeper Ibrahim Alma. It was Al Haydos’ second consecutive goal off a penalty kick in as many games. He also scored against Korea last week.
Soon after the goal, Qatar’s Ali Asadalla was slapped with a yellow card as heated exchanges between the two sides increased. The two teams walked off the pitch at half time with Qatar leading 1-0.
Soon after the resumption of play, both teams upped the ante in a desperate bid to control the game. However, Qatar showed better resilience up front.
Syria, reeling from a goal’s deficit, ushered in their first substitute in the 53rd minute as Osama Omari came off the bench to replace Yousef Kalfa. Seconds later, striker Akram Afif fired a superb low pass to Soria, who raced into the box, shrugged off his marker but fired straight at Syria goalkeeper Alma in the 54th minute.
Four minutes later, Syria’s Al Mawas went for a long-range missile but his shot flew past the Qatar goalpost safely.
At the one hour-mark, Qatar coach Fossati brought in Karim Boudiaf to replace Afif. Four minutes later, Syria coach Ayman Al Hakeem brought in Rafat Mohtadi in place of Khaled Mobayed.
In the 68th minute, influential Qatar forward Al Haydos had only the Syrian goalkeeper to beat but his feeble lob ball from close range was easily deflected by Alma.
Coach Fossati - who relied on Rodrigo Tabata’s brilliance to win last season’s Qatar Stars League (QSL) title - brought on the Brazilian-born striker in the 77th minute, in place of Assadalla.
Syria’s Omar Khribin curled in a David Beckham-like free kick in the 84th minute but Qatar goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb produced a diving deflection with his left palm, much to the delight of the home fans at Al Sadd Stadium. Qatar held on to the slender lead to take their first points.
The Qatar players walked around the Al Sadd Stadium pitch to thank their fans for the support.
