Qatar look like they don’t belong

If Qatar’s performance in their opening match of the 2022 Fifa World Cup finals is anything to go by, then Bafana Bafana may well soon have good reason to be grateful to the Gulf State.

South Africa are nowhere near the World Cup finals, of course, but could soon be saved from the ignominy of being the worst-ever host nation to play at the competition.

Carlos Alberto Parreira’s Bafana were, in 2010, the first host nation ever to exit the competition at the group stages, though they could at least point to four points gained in Group A, from a draw in their opening match against Mexico, and a win over France, albeit agaist a Les Bleus side that had imploded spectacularly.

Qatar might yet recover, of course, but their 2-0 loss to Ecuador made them the first host nation ever to lose their opening match of the competition. More than this, a team that won the Asia Cup in 2019, and had been in camp under head coach Felix Sanchez for six months prior to the tournament, looked tactically clueless against an excellent Ecuador.

Goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb had an absolute nightmare of a first half, first flapping at a cross that led to a “goal” for Enner Valencia that was ruled out by a marginal offside call. The 32-year-old thenflattened the Ecuador captain Valencia to concede a penalty, while the Qatar defence was all at sea again as Ecuador’s leading all-time goalscorer completed his brace with a fine header.

At the other end, Ecuador ‘keeper Hernan Galindez could have made himself a cup of tea, or opened a bottle of non-alcoholic Budweiser and sipped it at leisure for much of the match, so non-existent was the Qatar threat on the South American’s goal.

Qatar, indeed, had not one shot on target in the entire match, not a statistic that is going to win you many matches.

Ecuador, it must be said, were excellent, working tirelessly off the ball and full of class on it, with the trickery of Gonzalo Plata standing out. Valencia, who already has 16 goals in all competitions with Turkish giants Fenerbahce this season, shows no sign of slowing down at 33, and Ecuador will hope the injury that forced him off in the second half is not serious.

It could also be that Qatar had opening day nerves, and that Sanchez’ side will give a far better account of themselves against Senegal on Friday. At least in the second half against Ecuador the hosts put up a more resilient display in keeping the scoreline respectable, and even Al Sheeb made a couple of decent stops.

If Qatar don’t improve. an ignominious exit awaits, and some may feel that this is no less than a country with their appalling human rights record deserves.