Action from the Qatar-Oman beach soccer match at Katara Beach yesterday. Picture: Jayaram
By Sport Reporter/Doha
Qatar finished their campaign on a disappointing note as they crashed to an 8-0 defeat against Oman in their last Group A match of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup 2015-AFC Qualifier Qatar at Katara Beach yesterday.
In the other group A match Bahrain defeated Laos 8-2 to enter quarter-finals, while Uzbekistan defeated Iraq 6-1 to secure a last eight spot against Lebanon.
It was a controlled and dominant performance from the experienced Oman against the hosts who are still learning the ropes. It was Qatar’s third loss in as many matches.
The visitors were on the ascendancy from the start and took the lead in the seventh minute when Yahya al-Araimi scrambled the ball home from a corner line. The second and third quarter continued in a similar vein, albeit with a few more goals with the hosts barely getting a sniff. Ghaith was the top scorer with four goals.
Despite failing to register a single win in the tournament on home soil, Qatar captain Jafal Rashid al-Kuwari was optimistic about the growth of the game in the country.
“It was a great learning experience for us as we were pitted against some of the better teams of the region,” Jafal said.
“We are taking the game very seriously and in my opinion we should have a beach soccer league in Qatar for the development of the game,” he said.
Qatar will meet Barcelona in a friendly game on Saturday, just before the final.
“Yes we are keen to play against Barcelona. It is one of the best clubs in the world and again it will be a learning experience for us,” Jafal said.
The Oman captain Hani al-Dhabit was delighted with his team’s entry into the quarter-finals. “We had a very tough first game against Bahrain which went our way and after that we were in full control. Now we are in the quarter-finals without losing a match and ready to meet China tomorrow.“We have confidence in our game and hopefully will qualify for Portugal,” he said.
Japan finished at the top of the Group B as they defeated China 5-0 and will meet Bahrain. Japan’s win had a play-off feel to it as the two teams came out with buckets of energy, but the Japanese stayed stronger throughout. They scored first and never looked back to effectively keep the Chinese at bay. China will take on Oman with high hopes of advancing and becoming one of the three teams from the AFC to advance to the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Portugal 2015 in July.
Iran defeated Thailand 8-1 and will meet UAE in the quarters today.
