The Qatar national team officially left the 2022 World Cup, after the Netherlands and Ecuador tied 1-1 today, Friday, at Khalifa Stadium, in the second round of Group A competitions.
Sharjah 24 – Asaad Khalil:
The Qatar national team officially bid farewell to the 2022 World Cup in football, after the Netherlands and Ecuador tied 1-1 today, Friday, at Khalifa Stadium, in the second round of Group A competitions.
The “Al-Annabi” team received its second successive loss, against Senegal, 1-3, after the first opening against Ecuador, 0-2, so the Dutch and Ecuadorian teams raised their score to 4 points, compared to 3 points for Senegal, and zero for Qatar, which became the first host team to lose hope. After two matches of the group stage.
The Netherlands plays with Qatar, and Senegal with Ecuador, in the third and last round of the group stage.
The Dutch and Ecuadorian teams started their career in Qatar by collecting the three points, the first beating Senegal 2-0, and the second beating host Qatar with the same result.
The Argentine Gustavo Alfaro, Ecuador’s coach, pushed Ener Valencia, who scored two goals in the opening victory over Qatar, after doubts about his participation, while the Dutch top scorer, Memphis Depay, sat on the bench for the second match in a row.
Bayern Munich defender Matthijs de Ligt, who struggled against Senegal, left his position in favor of Jurien Timber, and Ton Kopemainers replaced Vincent Jansen in the middle.
Cody Khakpo opened the scoring for the Netherlands for the second consecutive match, after a ball that Ecuador failed to deal with, reaching Claassen and then to the Eindhoven striker, so he penetrated into the penalty area and hit the net with his strong left foot (6).
It is the first goal to hit Ecuador’s net since Argentine Julian Alvares’ goal last March, as part of a series of 7 matches in various competitions (3 wins and 4 draws).
Dutch goalkeeper Andres Nobert blocked Valencia’s shot (32), while defender Parvis Astupinian thought he had equalized for Ecuador with a shot that hit the net, but the referee raised the offside flag on his counterpart, Jackson Boroso, for blocking the path of the ball from goalkeeper Nobert (45 + 3).
With the start of the second half, Valencia imposed its third goal in the World Cup to top the scorers’ ranking and the sixth in succession after its participation in the World Cup in Brazil 2014 (3), the equalizer after he followed a shot from Estopenian that was blocked by goalkeeper Nobert and returned to the Turkish striker Fenerbahçe, who deposited it in the goal (49).
Ecuadorian Goncalo Plata (59) blocked the crossbar, before receiving a moral blow by injuring its top scorer, Valencia, and leaving the stadium crying on a stretcher (90).
It is the third meeting between the two teams, and the Netherlands won 1-0 in March 2006, while they tied 1-1 in May 2014.
The “mills” mourned continued his series of good results in the World Cup finals, as he only tasted defeat twice in his last 15 matches against the South American continent (8 wins against 5 draws).
In turn, Ecuador did not win against European teams only twice (against Croatia 2002 and Poland 2006), in 8 World Cup confrontations, compared to two draws and 4 defeats.