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Afghanistan kick-started their campaign on a winning note as they beat hosts Qatar 7-3 on the opening day of the FIFA Beach Soccer World Cup Asia Qualifiers here yesterday.
Japan, UAE, Palestine, Iran, Lebanon, China, Australia also registered victories on the first day of the tournament. In the first half, Qatar and Afghanistan were 1-all, but soon after the first break, Afghanistan rallied brilliantly to go 2-1 up. Both the sides exchanged spirited attempts in the first period, testing each other’s nerves. The lead was only to last for four minutes as Qatar curled in a gorgeous free-kick. But the hosts paid the penalty for early mistakes as Afghanistan scored five more goals to win 7-3.
Qatar now face a tough qualification test, but can re-ignite their chances with a victory today against Australia.
Qatar coach Carlos Alberto Lisboa expressed dissatisfaction at his boys’ performance in the match. “It was a very poor show. I was expecting a better performance from them against Afghanistan,” Lisboa told Gulf Times after the match.
“They started off well but in the second they gave them opportunities to score freely. I am hoping for a better show tomorrow against Australia.” Qatar captain Jafal Rashed also sounded disappointed. “We were not up to the mark today. We committed some mistakes in the second period which gave them some chances to dominate the game,” he said.
“We are playing for the first time in the tournament and hoping for a better show tomorrow. It is a new team and boys are in the learning process,” Jafal said.
In the first match of the day UAE defeated Saudi Arabia 6-3 and Palestine beat Uzbekistan 6-5. Palestine were unable to hold on to a three-goal lead in regular time against Uzbekistan. It was up to forward Husam Nawal to score the winning goal in the extra-time to give the Palestinians a 6-5 win. Meanwhile, Iran inflicted a 20-0 defeat on the Philippines and Lebanon pipped Bahrain 5– 3.