Nerves caused Qatar’s defeat to Ecuador, says coach Sanchez
‘We will try to learn from this loss. I’m completely sure we will make people feel happier with our performance’
Qatar head coach Felix Sanchez admitted his side suffered from stage fright as the FIFA World Cup 2022 hosts were handed a 2-0 defeat by Ecuador in their Group A clash at Al Bayt Stadium on Sunday.
Enner Valencia’s first-half double earned the South Americans a deserved win to leave the reigning Asian champions needing to win against Senegal on Friday to reignite their hopes of a place in the next phase of the competition. Defeat means Qatar are the first host country in the tournament’s 92-year history to lose their opening game.
“There’s no excuse, we want to congratulate our opponents, they deserved to win,” Sanchez said after the match. “There is a lot of room for improvement. Maybe the responsibility and nerves got the best of us. We didn’t start well. It was a terrible start, actually. Our nerves betrayed us.
“We were unable to string together four passes in a row. Also, many defensive gaps. The team was not balanced and that hurt us a lot. When you play against a team of this level...you pay for it,” the Spaniard added.
Valencia gave Ecuador the lead from the penalty spot in the 16th minute after he had been brought down by Qatar goalkeeper Saad al-Sheeb and the Fenerbahce forward was on target again 15 minutes later when he headed home Angelo Praceido’s cross from the right.
With Almoez Ali failing to take a gilt-edged opportunity in first half injury time, Qatar went into the break trailing by two goals and, as a result, some fans within the 67,372 crowd left the stadium before the final whistle.
Sanchez said his team “felt supported” even though thousands of fans left early.
“We felt backed and supported and we hope for the next game, people will feel prouder and keep supporting us to the end of the tournament,” he said of the fans.
“The atmosphere was great; people were very much looking forward to this game. We knew (defeat) could happen and the result can sometimes be difficult. We will try to learn from this loss. I’m completely sure we will make people feel happier with our performance. People know that we can give more.”
Despite the disappointment, the 46-year-old was already turning his focus to the game against the Senegal. “We need to sit down and analyse our performance, draw some conclusions and plan for the next game, try to be effective and competitive. It won’t be easy as all teams are looking for points,” he said. The Qatar coach defended the team’s preparations, where they spent six month in Europe training.
“Our preparations were adequate, we trained and played many friendlies in Europe. It was much more demanding than what they would have experienced had they stayed back at home. Plus, the conditions were not ideal for training during that time in Qatar,” he said
After their match against Senegal at the Al Thumama Stadium on Friday, the host face the Netherlands in their final Group A game next Tuesday (November 29) at Al Bayt Stadium.
Ecuador’s two-goal hero Valencia was delighted with his team’s performance against the hosts.
“We knew it was going to be a tough game, however, we managed to get a good result quickly,” said the former West Ham United and Everton striker. “We managed to score a couple of quick goals which helped us to get control of the game and take the three points.
“I dreamt so many times about winning this opening match and it was a dream that I managed to score. We have to keep dreaming because it is only going to get tougher.”