Salim Cheniouni
Doha, Qatar- Qatar went down 2-0 to Uzbekistan in an international friendly in Tashkent on Tuesday. The loss ended Qatar's three-match winning streak.
Playing to a packed Bunyodkor Stadium, the hosts started off with a blitz, attacking on all fronts. This despite the fact that the Uzbeks had to wait till the second half to score.
Skipper Odil Ahmedov found the net in the 73rd minute before Marat Bikmaev’s impressive chip thirteen minutes later sealed the game for the visitors.
Qatar, ranked 13 in Asia, one above Uzbekistan, were guarded throughout the game. The only noteworthy attack came from in-form Almoez Ali in the first half, but the visitors were quick to deny his attempt at the goal. The stalemate continued well into the second half, until Ahmedov broke the deadlock in 73rd minute as he headed home Akmal Shorakhmedov’s cross from the right flank.
Qatar did manage to find a chance to qualise in the next minute, but it went awry. Almoez, running along the left flank, picked a pass from the midfield, went past two Uzbek defenders and the goalkeeper to pass it to Ahmed Alaaeldin. Unfortunatley, substitute Alaaeldin’s shot was brilliantly cleared by Oleg Zoteev from the goal line. Qatar tried their best with captain Hassan al-Haydous leading the attack, Uzbekistan defenders were too much for them to handle.
Finally, Uzbekistan sealed victory in the 86th minute following a counter-attack that saw Ahmedov surging down the middle before passing the ball forward to Bikmaev, who lobbed the ball over goalkeeper Yousef Hassan, with rains adding to the drama.
Qatar coach Felix Sanchez expected it to be a tough encounter and that it was as it was Qatar’s first loss in four matches, having beaten Ecuador, China and Palestine earlier in their buildup to the AFC Asian Cup in UAE in January 2019.
Sanchez will have much bigger task ahead as he prepares his team to take on tougher opponents Switzerland and Iceland in friendlies in November. Qatar are in Group E at the Asian Cup along with Saudi Arabia, Lebanon and DPR Korea.
Uzbekistan had beaten DPR Korea 2-0 last Saturday.