-Qatar face elimination after being thrashed by Senegal 3-1
Sports Desk
Al-Rayyan: Iran claimed a famous 2-0 victory over 10-man Wales on Friday as Carlos Queiroz’s men scored two goals deep into added time to keep their Fifa World Cup campaign alive.
It had been building up to that first goal and when it came, there was delirium, pandemonium and an eruption of emotion. Iran had finally broken through against 10-man Wales and when the goal came, their players’ joy on the pitch translated to the stands where hordes of their frenzied fans cheered in delight, their roars reverberating across Ahmed Bin Ali Stadium and into the desert beyond.
Eight minutes into time added on, Wales — having lost goalkeeper Wayne Hennessey to a red card in the 84th — had half-cleared a ball into the box and it fell to Rouzbeh Cheshmi and the Iranian substitute planted a superb curling shot from 25 yards that stayed low and crashed into the back of the net. It was devastation for Wales and more was to come three minutes later as they looked to equalise only to get caught on the counter and Ramin Rezaeian raced clear to send a delightful dink over substitute goalkeeper Danny Ward to seal victory for Iran.
For all that Iran have been through, this was massive. Sardar Azmoun on the touchline grabbed coach Carlos Queiroz’s neck in celebration. Striker Medhi Taremi, who had provided his side with endless running, sank to the ground. The 2-0 win kept Iran alive at the World Cup in Qatar; victory in their final Group ‘B’ game against the United States — a grudge match considering the political rivalry between the two countries — will send them through to the next round.
“We need to finish the job,” Quieroz said after the game. “It was a wonderful day for us … we stuck to football. The players were brilliant, they deserve all the respect. People will now understand that these boys love to play football.”
Wales, in their first World Cup in 64 years, had scored a late goal to steal a point against the US in their opening game. Now they need to beat England and hope the Americans do them a favour against Iran. But how they recover from this will be crucial. “We’re gutted,” said Wales captain Gareth Bale. “It’s going to be difficult to qualify as it now depends on the other game but we have to recover and try again.”
Meanwhile, Host nation Qatar are perilously close to crashing out of the World Cup after they slumped to a 3-1 defeat by Senegal at the Al Thumama Stadium on Friday, despite Mohammed Muntari netting a first-ever World Cup finals goal for the Qataris. A win or a draw for Netherlands against Ecuador, who beat Qatar in the tournament’s opening game, later on Friday will see the Qataris become the first side mathematically eliminated from the tournament.
The Senegal fans brought colour and noise with rhythmic drumming throughout, while the home supporters turned out in maroon shirts, with many of the men opting for the traditional Middle Eastern thobe, a pristine white ankle-length tunic.
Qatar’s opening-night nerves were nowhere to be seen as they quickly got to grips with Senegal and should have had a penalty when Ismaila Sarr bundled over Akram Afif, but Spanish referee Antonio Mateu waved away their pleas and VAR did not intervene. With Qatar defending well, it was going to take either a moment of magic or a catastrophic mistake for Senegal to break the deadlock, and unfortunately for Qatar defender Boualem Khoukhi it turned out to be the latter.
His attempt to clear a routine low pass into the box by Krepin Diatta went disastrously wrong as he went to ground without making proper contact with the ball.
Khoukhi’s fluffed effort allowed Dia to pounce, and the 26-year-old striker needed no second invitation to rattle the ball in at the near post to give Senegal the lead.
With the Qatari crowd thinned out somewhat at the start of the second half, Famara Diedhou doubled Senegal’s advantage with a brilliant glancing header from an Ismail Jakobs corner in the 48th minute.
The missing home fans were soon back in their seats and rewarded with some superb attacking play as the hosts registered their first efforts on target in the tournament, with Ismael Mohamad forcing a superb reflex save from Edouard Mendy.
Muntari reduced the deficit in the 78th with a bullet header from Mohamad’s cross but Senegal were unruffled as they continued to out-muscle their opponents in midfield.
Six minutes after Muntari’s goal, Bamba Dieng swept home a pass form fellow substitute Iliman Ndiaye for his side’s third to consign Qatar to the bottom of Group A with no points, while their group rivals all have three.
