Qatar lost to South Korea 1-2 in an international friendly at the BSFZ Arena Admiral Stadium in Vienna, Austria on Tuesday. It was the Asian champions’ second friendly in Austria, after having played a 1-1 draw with Costa Rica last week.
It was a disappointing result for Qatar, since the South Koreans had fielded a depleted XI after coronavirus cases hit their squad on the eve of the match. Felix Sanchez’s were undone by poor defence, with temperature of 11 degrees Celsius not helping their cause.
Qatar were on the back foot straight away as they conceded with just 15 seconds gone on the clock. Boualem Khoukhi’s blunder gifted Korea the early lead after the defender lost control of the ball while passing it to goalkeeper Meshal Barsham. Hwang Uijo was quick to latch on to the mistake and slipped it onto Hwang Hee Chan, who slammed the ball into net.
Qatar hit back quickly though, with Almoez Ali equalising in the ninth minute after a fine pass from Tarek Salman. South Korea, however, were back in front in the 36th minute after captain Song Heung Min’s cross was cashed in by Hwang Ui Jo.
Qatar could not draw level in the second half, barely threatening the South Korea goal as the latter avenged their loss in the quarter-final of the Asian Cup last year.
Qatar’s next international assignment will be the Asian Qualifiers against Bangladesh on December 4.
With 13 points from five matches, Qatar are the current leaders of Group E, while Bangladesh, who have claimed one point from four outings, sit bottom of the section, The defending Asian champions defeated Bangladesh 2-0 when the teams met in Dhaka on Matchday Three.