Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Beirut: A costly second-half defensive error from Ramez Dayoub allowed Sebastian Soria to score the only goal as Qatar edged out Lebanon 1-0 on Sunday to claim a winning start to the final round of qualifying for the 2014 FIFA World Cup in Group A.
Uruguayan-born striker Soria intercepted Dayoub’s pass on the edge of the Lebanon area before coolly converting just his second goal of the qualifying campaign four minutes after the hour mark at Sports City Stadium.
Qatar, who will host the 2022 FIFA World Cup finals, return home to entertain Korea Republic on Friday, while Lebanon welcome Uzbekistan to Beirut after the Central Asians lost 1-0 at home to Iran in their Group A opener earlier on Sunday.
“The players produced a good performance tonight and we managed to get the positive start that we were looking for,” said Qatar coach Paulo Autuori.
“Some of our players didn't show full concentration, but they are on their way and they will get there.
"The match was difficult for us and we will give the players rest after this hard match. We will look forward to the next match as it will be harder and hopefully we can get a good result.”
Lebanon made a bright start to the contest, but it was Qatar who came close to an early breakthrough as goalkeeper Ziad El Samad smartly pushed a snap-shot from Soria over the crossbar after eight minutes.
Qatar then hit the woodwork from the resulting corner before Lebanon’s first real chance arrived after 27 minutes as Abbas Atwi struck the foot of the post with visiting goalkeeper Qasem Burhan beaten by his low angled strike following a swift break from the home side.
Lebanon again were the better side out of the blocks at the start of the second half, but Qatar took the lead four minutes after the hour mark as Soria capitalised on a defensive error from Dayoub.
The Lebanon defender appeared to have dealt with any attacking danger from Qatar as Dayoub collected the ball wide on the right, but his attempted pass across the edge of his own penalty area went straight to an alert Soria and the striker coolly skipped past El Samad before poking the ball into the empty net.
The home side could have snatched a point in stoppage time but captain Youssef Mohamad sent his volley from the edge of the six-yard area wide with the goal at his mercy.
“We were unlucky tonight as we should have at least got a point from the match and we awarded Qatar three valuable points after a defensive mistake which has cost us the game tonight,” said Lebanon coach Theo Bucker.
“We will try our best to make a good comeback and work on the mental side with the players especially because we will be playing two more matches in the next nine days and it will be very difficult for us.’