Qatar’s 15-0 win over Bhutan yesterday in Doha bettered their earlier record against Afghanistan and Lebanon whom they had beaten 8-0 in the 1980s. PICTURES: Noushad Thekkayil
By Joe Koraith/Doha
Qatar football team recorded the biggest win in their history, when they defeated Bhutan 15-0 in their 2018 World Cup qualifying match yesterday. Their previous record was a 8-0 win over Lebanon in 1985. And so 30 years later, Qatar pulled off a historic win.
Such was their dominance at the Jassim bin Hamad stadium yesterday that there were two players who scored a hat-trick and three who got a brace. Mohamed Muntari and Ali Asadalla scored a treble each while Mohamed Musa, skipper Hassan al-Haydos and Boualem Khoukhi found the net twice in an overwhelmingly one-sided match. Mohamed Kasola, substitutes Ismail Mohamed and Akram Afif completed the busy scoreboard for Qatar.
In their previous AFC Group C match against Maldives, they needed a late 98th minute injury-time goal to get the three points, but last night they opened the scoring as early as in the seventh minute. Mohamed Musa took it all upon himself to run with the ball all the way from the centre-line and then calmly slot it past the goalkeeper to begin the goal rush.
That set the tone for the match, which was being completely dominated by the home team. The second goal took some time coming, if one can call 11 minutes a long time. Mohamed Kasola headed towards goal from a corner. That the two defenders had scored the two opening goals will give an idea of how dominant Qatar were.
The first half ended with Qatar leading 8-0 and then the team added seven more goals after the break and this was despite Abdelkarim Hassan missing a penalty early in the second half.
This performance will be a great morale booster for Qatar and this huge margin of victory will help them immensely if it comes down to goal difference towards the end. Qatar coach Jose Carreno, who had to play this match without the services of Khalfan Ibrahim and Sebastian Soria but still ended up with a spectacular result, was a very pleased man at the end.
“The good thing is that the players were trying hard to score from the very first minute. From a tactical perspective there was a huge difference between the two teams. There were two different levels on display out on the field today. We can say that the Qatari players were very serious and disciplined throughout the game. And this is the positive thing from this game,” said Carreno after the match.
Bhutan had come into this match on the back of two big losses, which saw them concede 13 goals but this thumping at the hands of Qatar was not expected even by Carreno.
“We worked with the group the same way aiming to win and score the maximum number of goals possible. But we didn’t expect we were going to win by such a high margin.”
But despite this record breaking victory, Carreno said that his team would like to make history by achieving qualification for the 2018 World Cup. “The first goal was the most important one. After three goals we were trying to achieve the highest number of goals because we will need this if goal difference comes into play at the end. Everyone surrounding the team, the administration and the technical staff, are looking to achieve a historic record - not just in a single match but by achieving qualification for the 2018 World Cup.”
And the next match for Qatar is in five days time, when they face Hong Kong, who will be much tougher opponents. And Carreno believes that this result will not count for anything. “Hong Kong will be very different. They have achieved positive results so far. Both the teams will have very high morale during that game and I am certain everything that precedes the game will not affect it.”
Another result that will give joy to Qatar is that China and Hong Kong played out a goalless draw yesterday, which should help the Annabis. Qatar will be looking to ride the momentum from this victory to defeat Hong Kong.
“It is unacceptable for our players to take any game lightly and be complacent. Today they have shown after eight goals that they want to achieve even more. Their confidence and their mental presence is every high,” said Carreno when asked about their next match.
Meanwhile Bhutan coach Norio Tsukitate, jovial as ever, looked at this match as a learning experience for his inexperienced team. “We want to say thank the Qatar national team. This game was a good experience for us. And that’s why during the next game, we can play at a higher level. So we have to say thank you to Qatar,” Tsukitate said yesterday.
The Japanese coach said that he didn’t believe in ‘parking the bus’ and that was also one of the reasons why Qatar were able to score so many. But he insisted that he would continue with this approach. “I don’t like my team to play defensive with everyone staying in front of the goal. I don’t want the team to play negative but go forward instead. Our players were trying to score and that’s why Qatar players were able to get behind them and score. If Bhutan would have won 1-0 it would have been a miracle,” he said.
When asked to rate the Qatar team as compared to the other opponents they have played against, Tsukitate said that the Annabis had a good combination of strong and fast players. “Qatar are a good team of tall and strong players who are also fast. They play with a good combination. They pass wide and get behind the ball well. I hope that Qatar can qualify for the World Cup in Russia,” he said.
It was a day that Qatar players will remember for a long time and if they can put up another strong show against Hong Kong then they will immensely increase their chances of qualifying for the next stage. And to add another number to today’s busy statistics page, there were exactly 2022 spectators watching the match. A good omen don’t you think...
