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1 By Sahan BidappaDoha A lot was going against Qatar on the eve of their FIFA Arab Cup Opener against Bahrain. The Asian champions have been be-low-par at best, having not won a game since July, with an eight-match winless streak and some heavy losses against superior Eu-ropean last time Qatar beat Bah-rain in a competitive game was in 2002. Felix Sanchez s men are also chasing history with Qatar seeking their fi rst Arab Cup title albeit they have played in the tournament only twice before, in 1985 and 1998. In the latter, which they also hosted, they fi n-ished history and form was against Sanchez and his men last night.

2 But the moment Abdulaziz Hatem s header found the net at the electric Al Bayt Stadium, all seemed forgotten and Qatar s preparation for next year s World Cup at home was back on narrow 1-0 win against Bahrain at the packed Al Bayt Stadium last night gave the Ma-roons a good start to their FIFA Arab Cup campaign. While the win was far from perfect, it al-lowed Sanchez some breathing space after a diffi cult last few hosts, who are favourites for the title, were not fl uent in the fi rst half but put in a much-im-proved performance in the sec-ond half. The 2019 Arabian Gulf Cup champions put up a strong resistance and on another day could have nicked a point, which Sanchez later acknowledged.

3 We know Bahrain is a very good team. They have been doing well in the last two-three years, a much organised team with top quality players. I think we played a good game. The fi rst half was a little diffi cult because the open-ing game of any tournament is not easy. But I think we had bet-ter chances and we deserved the three points, the Qatar coach just a year to go before the historic World Cup at home, Qatar players experienced a glimpse of what could be on of-fer at the showpiece event. The Al Bayt Stadium staged a stun-ning opening ceremony, with a 60000-capacity crowd treated to jaw-dropping pyrotechnics display along with some beautiful choreography and performances that featured traditional themes, scenes and costumes from the Arab region.

4 The opening cer-emony featured 220 dancers, 75 orchestra performers and 45 FIFA Fan Leaders representing 48 dif-ferent countries as the Al Bayt stadium came alive. All these fan-fare and much more is what Qatar players will experience in a year s time. Playing at this stadium, I think, it s an experience for us, said Sanchez. As I have said be-fore, to play in this tournament is like training for the World Cup. So, I think it s a good experience to have one year before the World Cup, the Spaniard , the players took time to get into the groove at the start of the match with fans still awestruck by the opening cer-emony.

5 With captain Hassan al-Haydos returning from injury and experienced Abdelkarim Hassan on the bench, midfi elder Mohamed Waad and Homan al-Amin making the starting had the fi rst real open-ing in the game when in the sev-enth minute Mahdi Alhumaidan failed to connect a header from a close range. A lot depended on Qatar s star striker Akram Afi f and he was the star of the show host s went closer in the 18th minute with Waad being thwarted by the Bahraini keep-er Sayed Mohamed Jaff er, who made amends for clumsy clear-ance in his fi rst attempt. While Afi f 2019 Asian player of the year dictated the play creat-ing several goal-scoring chances, Qatar failed to fi nd the net in the fi rst the one hour mark, Boualem Khoukhi s header bounced over the cross before Afi f s sumptuous cross set up the goal for Qatar.

6 A whipped cross from Akram Afi f was met expertly by Hatem, who charged in to power a header and send the crowd into did come close in the closing stages but Qatar held out for the remainder of the match, including seven minutes of injury-time to seal a morale-boosting victory. Up next for Qa-tar is Oman, who yesterday were held to a 1-1 draw by Iraq. Qatar are on top of Group A after the fi rst round of matches, but with Oman and Iraq to come next, qualifi cation to quarter-fi nals is still not done. The top two sides from each of the four, four-team groups progress to the quarter-fi nals.

7 All the teams are equal so we have to play at our best. So let s hope that we can recover af-ter today s game and be ready for the next one, Sanchez , December 1, 2021 Rabia II 26, 1443 AHSPORTGULFTIMESCRICKETM essi looking to prove a point aft er seventh Ballon d OrPage 2days to go355 Today s scheduleGroup D Algeria vs Sudan, 1pm at Ahmad bin Ali StadiumEgypt vs Lebanon, 4pmat Al Thumama Stadium Group C Morocco vs Palestine, 7pm at Al Janoub StadiumSaudi Arabia vs Jordan, 10pm at Education City StadiumYesterday s resultsTunisia 5 (Seifeddine Jaziri 39 & 45 +2 , Mohamed Ben Arbi 42 & 51 , Youssef Msakni 90 +1 ) bt Mauritania 1 (Moulaye Bessam 45 +12 )Iraq 1 (Abdulkareem Hasan 90 +8 ) drew with Oman 1 (Salaah al-Yahyaei 78 )

8 Qatar 1 (Abdulaziz Hatem 70 ) Bahrain 1 UAE 2 (Ali Saleh 30 , Caio Canedo 24 ) Syria 1 (Ward Alslamh 60 ) The first half was a little diff icult because the opening game is not easy Qatar s Abdulaziz Hatem (centre) scores against Bahrain during the FIFA Arab Cup match at the Al Bayt Stadium yesterday. RIGHT: Hatem celebrates his goal in front of fans. PICTURES: Noushad ThekkayilQatar s midfielder Akram Afif (right) is fouled by Bahrain s defender Ahmed off to Qatar off to fl ier aft er fl ier aft er Hatem strikeHatem strikeFOOTBALLQ atar and Bahrain players line up before their match at the Al Bayt Stadium create the Arab Cup logo during the opening 30 December 18 Gulf Times Wednesday, December 1, 20212 Messi looking to prove a point aft er 7th Ballon d OrAFPP arisLionel Messi was award-ed a record-extending seventh Ballon d Or on Monday night, but for the fi rst time in his illustrious career.

9 There was a mixed reac-tion to his Argentinian great has made a slow start to life in France after a turbulent year which saw him bid a tearful farewell to Bar-celona and join Paris Saint-Ger-main. But there have been sparks of life in recent weeks, with his fi rst Ligue 1 goal followed by three assists in PSG s 3-1 win at Saint-Etienne on admitted his latest Bal-lon d Or win was largely down to leading his country to a major international title for the fi rst time in the Copa America, al-though he did also fi nish as La Liga top-scorer last season in a weak Barcelona team which has since stumbled from crisis to crisis.

10 After scoring just four goals in 11 appearances this term for PSG, the 34-year-old will need an upturn in fortunes to be named the world s best player again next manager Jurgen Klopp was among the leading football fi gures to express sur-prise that Messi beat Bayern Munich striker Robert Lewand-owski to the PSG coach Mauricio Po-chettino was in no doubt that his player deserved to become the fi rst from the French side to win the Ballon d Or, despite failing to fully fi re for the capital club. He totally deserves the Bal-lon d Or. There is no debate on this subject, Pochettino insist-ed ahead of PSG s game against high-fl ying Nice today.