Lopetegui defends Qatar’s performances despite ‘frustrating’ results ahead of Tunisia clash
DOHA: Qatar national team head coach Julen Lopetegui has defended his side’s performances at the ongoing FIFA Arab Cup ahead of a must-win clash against Tunisia to keep the hosts’ chances of advancing alive.
Lopetegui’s side dropped points at the Khalifa International Stadium on Thursday against Syria after conceding late for the second consecutive match. Al Annabi had hoped to correct their course after Palestine took all three points in the opener.
“We were really frustrated with the score of the last match,” Lopetegui said ahead of what is expected to be the toughest tie on paper for his side.
“But at the same time, we played really well against Syria. Football is like this sometimes. It’s not easy to accept that. We’ll now have to use all this frustration to push up in the next match.”
A similar course for Tunisia — a 1-0 opening day loss against Syria followed by a 2-2 stalemate against Jordan — makes Sunday’s clash a must-win for either side with qualification to the next round still contingent upon the other game’s result.
A draw at the Education City Stadium will see both Syria and Palestine advance to the next round with five points each, regardless of the outcome at Al Bayt.
Qatar’s hopes rest on defeating Tunisia and Palestine prevailing over Syria as well. For Tunisia, it’s the other way around – defeat Qatar, and hope Syria defeat Palestine.
“It is true that the situation is difficult for both them and for us to go forward [in the competition],” Lopetegui added. “But we have to ensure that we do the only thing that we can do: to be able to compete tomorrow and focus on it.”
It was Ahmed Alaaeldin’s header, just five minutes after coming on, that broke the deadlock in yet another Qatar performance that saw them dominate possession without offering much.
The Al Rayyan forward was one of the eight players relegated to the bench as Lopetegui made a heavy shuffle, aiming to keep qualification chances under his side’s fate.
However, Omar Khrbin’s stunning strike into the top corner a minute into added time changed things over. While Syrian players fell to their knees in relief, several of their Qatari counterparts were seemingly frustrated.
“Our mental state as players has been quite difficult, especially after the last match,” said midfielder Ahmed Fathy, who started from the bench despite making it to the eleven against Palestine in the opener.
“Unfortunately, small details led to the result. But there is not enough time for us to think about past games.
“We have to focus on the next one against Tunisia to benefit from the positive things that we did against Syria,” he added.
