Doha, Jan 8 (DPA) Both coaches felt the same way after Qatar slumped to a disappointing 2-0 defeat against Uzbekistan in the opening match of the Asian Cup.
The hosts will now find it very difficult to advance from Group A, which also includes China and Kuwait.
Qatar coach Bruno Metsu said that he feels very bad for the entire country. ‘This is a very bad entry for our team. We wanted to play well and we wanted to win for the fans.
‘It is not important what this game means to me, what is important is what it means to the people of Qatar and we wanted to win for them.’
Surprisingly, Metsu received support from his Uzbekistan counter- part Vadim Abramov.
‘Of course I am happy that we won the game, even if it is only three points and means nothing, but I am also very sad for the Qatar people.
‘This was supposed to be a big celebration for them and then they lost. That is a bad thing, but they still have chances of going through to the next round.’
The 2022 World Cup hosts will now probably have to win their next two matches against China and Kuwait if they want to stay in the competition.
After captain Server Djeparov added a second goal in the 78th minute to Odil Akhmedov’s earlier strike, a large portion of the 37,000 crowd in the Khalifa Stadium left.
