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Reuters/AFP
Abu Dhabi
Qatar wrestled their way past Iraq into the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup on Tuesday when a stunning free kick from the son of a former Iraqi international gave them a 1-0 victory at Al Nahyan Stadium.
Defender Bassam al Rawi found the net in the 62nd minute to decide a scrappy contest in favour of the 2022 World Cup hosts and set up a date with South Korea across town at Zayed Sports City on Friday.
Iraq, the 2007 champions, gave their all but paid the price for failing to take their chances and departed the continental tournament before the quarter-final stage for the first time since 1972.
Iraq were cheered on by a noisy majority of the 14,000 crowd in the boutique ground, with barely a handful supporting the Maroons.
“I think in the second half we dominated, we scored,” said Qatar coach Felix Sanchez. “We had 10 minutes, our best spell when we could have scored more.
“I can just congratulate the players for their effort against one of the best teams in the competition.”
Qatar, who scored 10 goals and conceded none in the group stage, made the brighter start and left back Abdelkarim Hassan hit the bar in the fourth minute.
That was pretty much the extent of their threat on goal until he had a shot deflected onto the post just before the break, though, as the Qataris were muscled out of the game in midfield.
Iraq fared little better at the other end with Mohanad Ali having their best chance of breaking the deadlock in the 23rd minute as the 2007 champions started to make some progress with the ball over the top of the Qatari defence.
The young striker raced through on goal but Saad al Sheeb bravely dived at his feet, with the goalkeeper getting a boot to the face for his efforts.
A defensive error put Qatar winger Akram Afif through early in the second half but his touch woefully betrayed him, and the ball trickled harmlessly to Iraq keeper Jalal Hassan.
It was a foul on the dangerous Afif on the lefthand corner of the box that led to the breakthrough just after the hour mark, Bassam stepping up and curling the ball over the wall and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
The Qataris were charged with confidence by the goal and poured forward to pepper Hassan’s goal with shots in the next 10 minutes before Iraq regained their grip on the midfield.
Iraq defender Ali Adnan went close to matching Bassam’s effort from a free kick slightly further out in the 78th minute and twice Iraqi forwards flashed headers wide as they lay siege to the Qatar goal in the last few minutes.
But the Qataris held them out to register a fourth clean sheet in four matches at the tournament, almost outnumbering their small band of fans when they celebrated with them at the end.
South Korea survive
Bahrain scare
Earlier in Dubai, Son Heung-min’s South Korea needed an extra-time
winner to beat world ranked 113th Bahrain 2-1 as
they stumbled into
quarter-finals.
Kim Jin-su’s diving header at the end of the first extra period proved the difference as the two-time champions met unexpected resistance before winning.
But Paulo Bento’s side, runners-up in 2015 and one of the favourites for the title, survived to reach the last eight.
Tottenham star Son took a boot to the head as he weathered some robust challenges in a first half which South Korea dominated with 73 percent
of possession.
Bahrain nearly stunned the Koreans with Mohamed Marhoon’s stinging early shot as South Korea took time to settle into their rhythm.
But from the half-hour Son started to make his presence felt with some typically direct running which caused panic in the
Bahrain defence.
South Korea broke the deadlock two minutes from half-time, when Son laid off to Lee Yong whose cross was parried by the goalkeeper to Hwang Hee-chan, who snaffled the easy chance.
South Korea threatened to run riot after the break before Bahrain hit back and it took a magnificent flying stop from Kim Seung-gyu
to keep out Jamal Rashed’s
thumping effort.
And against all expectations, Bahrain were suddenly level with 13 minutes remaining when Mohamed Al Romaihi smashed in the rebound from Mahdi al Humaidan’s shot.
The goal stunned South Korea, who had only conceded twice at an Asian Cup game since 2011 – the 2015 final, which they lost 2-1
to Australia after extra time.
Hwang Ui-jo nearly snatched the victory in injury time, when a defensive mix-up put him one-on-one with Sayed Shubbar Alawi, but he spooned his shot wide to set up the additional 30 minutes of play.Impressive Al Annabi set
up date with South Korea
Abu Dhabi
Qatar wrestled their way past Iraq into the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup on Tuesday when a stunning free kick from the son of a former Iraqi international gave them a 1-0 victory at Al Nahyan Stadium.
Defender Bassam al Rawi found the net in the 62nd minute to decide a scrappy contest in favour of the 2022 World Cup hosts and set up a date with South Korea across town at Zayed Sports City on Friday.
Iraq, the 2007 champions, gave their all but paid the price for failing to take their chances and departed the continental tournament before the quarter-final stage for the first time since 1972.
Iraq were cheered on by a noisy majority of the 14,000 crowd in the boutique ground, with barely a handful supporting the Maroons.
“I think in the second half we dominated, we scored,” said Qatar coach Felix Sanchez. “We had 10 minutes, our best spell when we could have scored more.
“I can just congratulate the players for their effort against one of the best teams in the competition.”
Qatar, who scored 10 goals and conceded none in the group stage, made the brighter start and left back Abdelkarim Hassan hit the bar in the fourth minute.
That was pretty much the extent of their threat on goal until he had a shot deflected onto the post just before the break, though, as the Qataris were muscled out of the game in midfield.
Iraq fared little better at the other end with Mohanad Ali having their best chance of breaking the deadlock in the 23rd minute as the 2007 champions started to make some progress with the ball over the top of the Qatari defence.
The young striker raced through on goal but Saad al Sheeb bravely dived at his feet, with the goalkeeper getting a boot to the face for his efforts.
A defensive error put Qatar winger Akram Afif through early in the second half but his touch woefully betrayed him, and the ball trickled harmlessly to Iraq keeper Jalal Hassan.
It was a foul on the dangerous Afif on the lefthand corner of the box that led to the breakthrough just after the hour mark, Bassam stepping up and curling the ball over the wall and into the bottom left-hand corner of the net.
The Qataris were charged with confidence by the goal and poured forward to pepper Hassan’s goal with shots in the next 10 minutes before Iraq regained their grip on the midfield.
Iraq defender Ali Adnan went close to matching Bassam’s effort from a free kick slightly further out in the 78th minute and twice Iraqi forwards flashed headers wide as they lay siege to the Qatar goal in the last few minutes.
But the Qataris held them out to register a fourth clean sheet in four matches at the tournament, almost outnumbering their small band of fans when they celebrated with them at the end.
South Korea survive
Bahrain scare
Earlier in Dubai, Son Heung-min’s South Korea needed an extra-time
winner to beat world ranked 113th Bahrain 2-1 as
they stumbled into
quarter-finals.
Kim Jin-su’s diving header at the end of the first extra period proved the difference as the two-time champions met unexpected resistance before winning.
But Paulo Bento’s side, runners-up in 2015 and one of the favourites for the title, survived to reach the last eight.
Tottenham star Son took a boot to the head as he weathered some robust challenges in a first half which South Korea dominated with 73 percent
of possession.
Bahrain nearly stunned the Koreans with Mohamed Marhoon’s stinging early shot as South Korea took time to settle into their rhythm.
But from the half-hour Son started to make his presence felt with some typically direct running which caused panic in the
Bahrain defence.
South Korea broke the deadlock two minutes from half-time, when Son laid off to Lee Yong whose cross was parried by the goalkeeper to Hwang Hee-chan, who snaffled the easy chance.
South Korea threatened to run riot after the break before Bahrain hit back and it took a magnificent flying stop from Kim Seung-gyu
to keep out Jamal Rashed’s
thumping effort.
And against all expectations, Bahrain were suddenly level with 13 minutes remaining when Mohamed Al Romaihi smashed in the rebound from Mahdi al Humaidan’s shot.
The goal stunned South Korea, who had only conceded twice at an Asian Cup game since 2011 – the 2015 final, which they lost 2-1
to Australia after extra time.
Hwang Ui-jo nearly snatched the victory in injury time, when a defensive mix-up put him one-on-one with Sayed Shubbar Alawi, but he spooned his shot wide to set up the additional 30 minutes of play.Impressive Al Annabi set
up date with South Korea
