Latin team Ecuador defeated host Qatar in the opening match of World Cup Football 2022, held at Al-Bayt Stadium in Al Khor on Sunday evening, reports Aljazeera.
It looked like Qatar had conceded a goal within three minutes of kick-off in the match. But a header from Ecuador’s Enner Valencia, from a long-distance free-kick attempt from Pervis Estupinan close to the halfway line, was struck off by the video assistant referee (VAR).
But it was only a temporary reprieve for Qatar, playing in front of Qatari Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, other Qatari royals, and several foreign leaders in a crowd of 67,372.
After just 15 minutes of play, Valencia was brought down in the box by Qatari goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb and the referee pointed to the spot without hesitation. Slotting in the penalty to the right of the keeper, Valencia became Ecuador’s all-time highest World Cup goal scorer.
Fifteen minutes later, Valencia again found the net – doubling Ecuador’s advantage with a header from a cross from just outside the box on the right.
With half an hour gone, Qatar were two-nil down, and had not even had a touch of the ball in the Ecuadorian box.
The hosts settled as half-time approached, but could not manage to convert increased comfort into much meaningful attacking play after the break. Ecuador was forced to keep their defensive shape tight as Qatar dominated possession in the second half.
With the game in the final quarter, the ailing double-goal scorer Valencia, the recipient of a few rough challenges, was substituted for Jose Cifuentes. Ecuador, who also face Senegal and the Netherlands in their bid to get out of this group, will hope their star player has not been seriously injured.
A few moments later, Ecuador’s Jeremy Sarmiento, with a little more than 10 minutes on the pitch after coming on for Romario Ibarra, nearly added a third with a curling strike in the 79th minute, but his show flew wide.
An 86th-minute effort could have made Mohammed Muntari a Qatari hero, and almost set Al Bayt alight when he received a long ball and tried to beat the keeper with a smashing volley, only to have the ball land on top of the netting.
Qatar, the only host nation to lose an opening match in the history of the World Cup, only had five shots in the match and none were on target. The team had just two touches inside the opposition penalty area.
Bd-pratidin English/Lutful Hoque
