By a Special Correspondent/Doha
Qatar will be hoping to make amends for 10 years of heartbreak by winning the Gulf Cup today and, in doing so, assert itself as a regional football power, if only to silence the army of critics who have been taking potshots at the country over various skewed perceptions around its winning bid to host the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Ever since Qatar was declared as the host country for the FIFA World Cup in 2022, it hasn’t been all plain sailing. As if the allegations of corruption surrounding Qatar’s bid were not hard enough to deal with, they have been accompanied by equally painful barbs that it’s a country lacking in footballing pedigree and culture.
Such assumptions are too simplistic and betray a complete lack of knowledge about Qatar and the entire region – and we are not necessarily speaking about sport, but also culture, history and politics. A victory against Saudi Arabia could just be the balm that Qatar football needs at the moment.
Qatar have won the event only twice – in 1992 and 2004 when it hosted the event – but the past 10 years have been a mixed bag for football in the country. The 2006 Asian Games gold medal in Doha proved yet again that Qatar are a formidable force when playing at home, but largely it has been an uphill battle.
A victory against continental giants Saudi Arabia in Riyadh today thus would go a long way in boosting Qatar’s morale, especially with the more prestigious Asian Cup to be played in Australia in January.
To give the team a feel of home, Qatar has flown out planeloads of fans to Riyadh, but they will be still in a minuscule minority at the King Fahd International Stadium and would have to play second fiddle to the Saudi supporter. After all, for some strange reason, the Saudis have won the tournament only thrice before and it’s certain that it will be their supporters who will be doing most of the cheering.
Qatar’s build-up to the title match was lacklustre to say the least. They scored only one goal in three draws but against Oman, whom they defeated 3-1 in the semi-final, they showed they are peaking at the right moment.
The team are confident they can upset the Saudis in their own backyard, with coach Djamel Belmadi hoping that an attack-based game would yield dividends.
“We played an attacking game against Oman which helped up win the semi-final,” Belmadi said. “We would basically try to do the same but strategies can change during the course if the match,” he added.
Qatar have been missing senior stars Khalfan Ibrahim and Sebastian Soria through injury and lack of form, but many of the youngsters Belmadi has picked have coped with the pressure well.
Al Sadd’s Ali Asadalla came off the bench and scored two goals for Qatar in the semi-final against Oman. Players like Ibrahim Majid, Abdulkarim Hassan and Boualem Khoukhi have also done well. First choice goalkeeper Qassim Bruhan, too, has been effective without being spectacular.
The Saudis, meanwhile, would be considering themselves as favourites despite languishing in 97th position on the FIFA rankings table as against Qatar’s 88. But when it comes to Gulf football, FIFA rankings are irrelevant.
That in itself cannot be bad for football.
