Al-Haydos warns Qatar against complacency

Qatar’s defence of their AFC Asian Cup title may have gotten off to a strong start but captain Hassan al-Haydos doesn’t want his team to take things for granted.
Akram Afif scored a brace with Almoez Ali netting one in the win over Lebanon on Friday as Qatar took the early lead in Group A but al-Haydos said there is still much to do.
“First of all, thank God we took the three points because that was very important,” al-Haydos told the-AFC.com “We didn’t do badly but I think we can do better in the next game.
“(It was the) opening game and pressure (on the players). I think the team has more to bring to the field. Now we close this game with the three points and we start to think about the next game.”
The mercurial leader was replaced by Mostafa Meeshal just before the hour mark but only after the home side had secured some breathing space after Ali doubled their lead.
In the 57 minutes that al-Haydos was on the pitch, he combined seamlessly with club teammate Afif with 15 passes between them at the iconic Lusail Stadium.
Despite their dominance against Lebanon, al-Haydos is well aware that Qatar cannot be lulled into complacency with matches against Tajikistan (Jan 17) and China PR (Jan 22) to come. “In our mind, we want to take the first position in the group. We haven’t qualified yet, so we start to think about Tajikistan and analyse them. “We want to take another three points, (and) then another three points.”
Debutants Tajikistan opened their campaign with a goalless draw with China PR on Saturday.
Lebanon undeterred by
opening defeat Maher Sabra felt Lebanon’s 3-0 defeat to Qatar in Friday’s AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2023 opening match did not do justice to the valiant performance the Cedars produced at the Lusail Stadium.
The Miodrag Radulovic-led Lebanon held their own in the first half but came undone just before the break as Afif scored the first of his two goals.
“I think our performance was quite good even if the scoreline suggests otherwise. In the first half, we put a lot of pressure on Qatar but unfortunately, things didn’t go our way. However, I must congratulate the Qatari team on their hard-earned win,” said Sabra.
With Lebanon facing China PR next on Wednesday, the Nejmeh SC defender’s focus is solely on avoiding the mistakes made in the first match and collecting three points.
“We must study our performance and fill the gaps. We have to make sure that we are composed and looking ahead instead of sitting in the past. I don’t anticipate our next matches to be as difficult as the opener.”
Sabra’s sentiments were echoed by teammate Soony Saad, who came on as a substitute minutes before Lebanon conceded the third goal.
“It’s really gutting if you concede in the 44th minute and that showed in the second half. Having said that, I don’t believe the match against Qatar says much about our future performances,” said Saad.
“The tournament is long and let’s remember that Argentina also lost to Saudi Arabia in their opening match in the World Cup and we all know how that story ended.
“As long as we don’t concede avoidable goals and be a little more clinical in the final third, we should not have a lot to worry about in our upcoming ties against China PR and Tajikistan.”