Ecuador dominates host Qatar
AL KHOR, Qatar — The large swaths of empty seats in the second half summed up the Qatar soccer team’s disappointing start to its first World Cup.
The night started with more than 67,000 mostly Qatari fans filling the cavernous Al Bayt Stadium, enjoying an opening ceremony that showcased the tiny Arab emirate to a global audience 12 years after winning the right to host soccer’s biggest event.
It ended with Qatar’s overmatched team trudging off the field, its unwanted place in soccer history secure. The controversy-laced tournament opened Sunday with the 2019 Asian Cup champions getting outplayed in a 2-0 loss to Ecuador, becoming the first host team to lose a World Cup opener.
“I would say we felt bad” for our supporters, Qatar coach Felix Sanchez said. “I hope in the next game they will be prouder.”
Ecuador captain Enner Valencia scored both of his team’s goals in the first half — the first on a penalty after being fouled by Qatari goalkeeper Saad Alsheeb; the second on a spectacular header off a right-wing cross from Angelo Preciado. The one-sided game wound up being a damagecontrol exercise for Qatar on one of the biggest nights in the nation’s history.
The match took place after a colorful 30-minute opening ceremony — fronted by Oscar-winning actor Morgan Freeman and attended by powerful dignitaries including Saudi Arabian Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman — that promoted inclusivity and mankind living “under one tent.”
For many, that would jar with this World Cup being hosting by an emirate where homosexual acts are illegal, one that has come under strong criticism for how migrant workers have been treated building stadiums and tournament infrastructure since Qatar won the scandal-shrouded vote in 2010.
In what might go down as one of the worst displays by a host nation to open a tournament, Qatar had five shots in the match and none of them were on target. The team had only two touches inside the opposition penalty area.
Put simply, Ecuador was just too good for a team playing at the World Cup only because it is the host.