Qatar and Honduras both will be hungry to shake off an opening group defeats and earn their first victory of the tournament when they meet for the second straight time in a Concacaf Gold Cup in Glendale, Phoenix, on June 29.
These two nations squared off in the 2021 tournament during which Qatar emerged with a 2-0 victory on the strength of goals from Homan Ahmed and Abdulaziz Abdullah.
Qatar succumbed to Haiti in their opening Group ‘B’ match of this edition on a second half stoppage time goal, so the 2021 semifinalists will be keen to right the ship and finish out the group with two wins to try to put themselves in a good position to reach the knockout stage.
Yusuf Abdurisag scored the lone Qatar goal against Haiti and will try to achieve the same feat against the Catrachos. Bassam Alrawi was also a menace going forward and supplied the assist on the Abdurisag score.
Al-Rawi hoped the loss will motivate the team to work harder and earn wins in the remaining group matches.
“This was not the result we were hoping for, but we have a new group of players and a promising future ahead. However, we must learn from our mistakes,” said al-Rawi.
“I hope this loss will give us the morale boost to perform at our best in the future. Unfortunately, as you have seen, we missed many chances in front of the goal,” he said. The 4-0 loss to Mexico for Honduras was the fourth time in five Gold Cups that they lost their opening match, and only once in those four occasions did, they manage to reach the knockout stage after dropping their first match, in 2017.For the Central Americans goal-keeper Luis Lopez is a steady hand in net with 40 career saves in 12 Gold Cup matches. Deybi Flores is a workhorse in midfield and had four ball recoveries against Mexico, while dangerous Alberth Elis was fouled five times against Mexico and will be eager to find his first Gold Cup goal.
Qatar players during their Group ‘B match against Haiti in Houston. PICTURE: Anas Khalid
