Hassan Al Haydos’ stunning goal helps Qatar beat China
The Qatari captain came off the bench to smash a spectacular volley from 20 yards
Doha, Qatar - Hassan Al Haydos’ goal-of-the-tournament contender earned Qatar a 1-0 win over China in their final Group A clash of the Asian Cup at Khalifa International Stadium on Monday as the hosts all but eliminated Aleksandar Jankovic’s side from the competition.
The Qatari captain came off the bench to smash a spectacular volley from 20 yards past the helpless Yan Junling in the 66th minute and maintain the muchchanged defending champions’ perfect start to the campaign and stretch their AFC Asian Cup winning run to 10 matches, dating back to their 2019 title triumph.
Jankovic’s side needed a win to be certain of advancing to the last 16 but, after failing to find the back of the net in their opening games against Tajikistan and Lebanon, the Chinese once again misfired in attack with their fate now out of their hands.
Qatar started with the tournament’s joint-leading scorer Akram Afif on the bench alongside the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 Golden Boot winner Almoez Ali and Al Haydos as Marquez Lopez made 10 changes to the team that started the 1-0 win over Tajikistan.
The Chinese, meanwhile, left Wu Lei on the sidelines with Wei Shihao making his first start alongside captain Wu Xi and Lin Liangming as Dai Wai-tsun and Xu Xin were also dropped to the bench.
While Boualem Khoukhi sent an early header wide of the Chinese goal, it was Jankovic’s team who cut through the home defence in the seventh minute, narrowly failing to take the lead after Lin Liangming released Zhang Yuning and his cutback was thumped wide by Wei.
Zhang had an effort blocked by Khoukhi as China made their attacking intentions clear early in the game, although the Qataris presented a threat at the other end despite their wholesale changes, with Abdulaziz Hatem’s curling strike clearing the bar.