DOHA, Qatar: Yousef Ahmed scored twice to give Qatar a 2-0 win over China on Wednesday and boost the host nation’s chances of advancing to the knockout round of the Asian Cup.Ahmed gave Qatar the lead in the 27th minute and added the second in first-half injury time.Qatar needed a win after losing its first match and went on the attack from the start, repeatedly breaking down China’s defense in the opening 30 minutes.China, which beat Kuwait in its opening Group A match, could not regroup in the second half against Qatar.“We showed the real face of the Qatar team in this match,” Qatar coach Burno Metsu said. “I am very proud of their strong performance and we will try to do the same against Kuwait and advance to the quarterfinals.” Qatar has billed the continental tournament as a test run for the 2022 World Cup, awarded to the tiny, oil-rich Gulf nation last month. Matsu’s squad has come under fire after losing the tournament’s opening match to face an early exit.
There was no other choice but to win against China, the French coach said.“We gave our best and scored two goals and, although we missed many chances after that, I was happy,” Matsu said.China coach Gao Hongbao is satisfied with the overall performance of a squad that has some of the youngest and least experienced players in the tournament. Gao blamed China’s malfunctioning attack for the defeat.“We did not apply enough pressure in the game, so Qatar was able to organize attacks easily,” said Gao, adding that, with no player over 30, the match was still “a good experience for our young team.“Our players can learn from this match. We lost the game, but losing is part of playing and we can do better in the next game, which is more important to us.” China will next play Uzbekistan and Qatar will play Kuwait.Uzbekistan leads Group A with six points, three more than China and Qatar. Kuwait has zero points.At the last Asian Cup, China failed to advance from the group stage. The country’s footballing fortunes have dipped since 2002, with corruption and management problems compounded by the team failing to qualify for the World Cup in 2006 and 2010 – Arabnews
