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Adil Ahmed struck twice in four minutes of the second half to help hosts Qatar thrash Saudi Arabia 4-1 in a Group A match and help his team secure a spot in the semi-finals of the 8th West Asia Football Federation (WAFF) Championship, at the Al Sadd stadium yesterday. |
Frontman Adil made the most of the chances with a two-goal blitz in the early part of the second session that left the visiting defence awestruck. The Saudis virtually surrendered thereafter as they had little to offer against the strong Qatar attacks.
“It was a superb game by the experienced Qatar side. We needed a win to make it to the semi-finals, so we were playing an aggressive game, but the Qatari players counter-attacked well and scored three quick goals to destroy our strategy,” Saudi Arabia coach Kahlid said.
The hosts played with a lot of fire and intent in the second half to fire home three quick goals in a space of six minutes to shut out Saudi’s challenge. The visitors began the second half well, attacking the Qatari post just after the break, but the hosts relied on quick counter-attacks which proved decisive as the Saudi defence was found clueless.
“It was quite heartening to see the team win with a big margin after the slender win against Palestine in the opening game,” said Qatar coach Djamal Belmadi.
“We were in a positive mindset right from the word go as we were playing for the win to secure a place in the semifinals,” the Algerian added. “We played aggressively and capitalised on the chances we created against the fragile defence of the Saudi side. You need to convert the chances to win important games.”
Commenting over his team’s chances to win the tournament, he said: “We are playing to win the title, but we are taking it match by match. We are high on confidence after today’s big win and now we have to concentrate on our semi-final match.”
Earlier, Algerian-born midfielder Boualem Khouki gave hosts the lead in the 16th minute, which was, however, levelled by Saudi Arabia’s Mohamed Majrashi in the 30th.
Khouki added his second in the 55th when he shot home from the edge after receiving a long overhead cross from his own half. He hoodwinked Al Beshi on the edge of the box before firing in a rising right-footer.
If Khouki provided the spark, Adil carried it through till the end. Lekhwiya striker Adil tapped home a Khouki pass inside the box in the 57th. Four minutes later, the 23-year-old pulled down a Mohamed Musa cross on the right and drilled the ball home.
Qatar finished their group outings at the top of the group with two victories in as many matches while Saudi and Palestine, the third team in the group, are at joint second spot with one point each.
Saudi Arabia was held to a goalless draw by Palestine in their first match in the group, while Qatar defeated Palestine in the opening match of the tournament.
In the second match of the day, Iraq and Oman both missed chances galore before settling for a goalless draw.