FOCUS Qatar team is getting stronger, says proud

1 Qatar s head coach Felix SanchezSunday, December 12, 2021 Jumada I 8, 1443 AHSPORTGULFTIMESMOTORSPORTV erstappen beats Hamilton to pole in Abu Dhabi deciderPage 2days to go344 YESTERDAY S QUARTER-FINALS RESULTSQ atar team is getting stronger, says proud coach SanchezBy Sports ReporterDoha Qatar s head coach Felix Sanchez was a proud man after his men dismantled the United Arab Emirates 5-0 to enter the semi-fi nals of the FIFA Arab Cup on Friday front of 63,439 fans the highest attendance for a football match in the history of Qatar at the Al Bayt Sta-dium, the Asian Champions turned on the style taking a 5-0 lead going into the break for an emphatic victory.

2 Qatar , looking to cap their year with a maiden Arab Cup title, went into the match as the favourites after a perfect record of three wins in Group A. UAE, on the other hand, were looking to upset the hosts after advancing as the Group B , however, raced off the blocks and their early pressure paid dividends as UAE s Ali Salmin netted into his own net. The early goal boosted Qatar as they pressed hard, doubling their lead in the 28th minute through Almoez Ali s penalty. A VAR review in the 36th minute saw Qatar awarded another penalty, with Boualem Khoukhi step-ping up to the delight of their fans, Abdulaziz Hatem made it 4-0 in the 40th minute but Qatar were not done yet, with Ali scoring his second of the night in fi rst half stoppage time.

3 With their place in the semi-fi nals sealed, Qatar took their foot off the pedal in the second half as they set their sights on their last four felt his team was getting stronger as the tournament progressed. The most positive aspect is that the team is getting stronger after each match. I am proud of my team because it is putting its best eff ort, the Span-iard said. We showed a strong performance in the fi rst half which made the second half comfortable for us. Fans created a great atmosphere and helped us in the victory.

4 We will have to recover and prepare for the semi-fi nals, where we are hoping for a strong performance, the Qatar coach added. Midfi elder Hatem, who scored Al Annabi s fourth goal in the quarter-fi -nal said to be among the top four teams in the Arab world was a great honour. We are delighted to be in the semi-fi nals of this important tournament. We started the match strongly and ex-ploited the UAE mistakes very well. Fans really helped us in our perform-ance with their all-out support, said Hatem.

5 Now our target is to reach the fi nal for which we will give our best, the 31-year-old added. UAE handed two penalties to the home side on Friday, leaving their coach Bert van Marwijk ruing the cat-astrophic mistakes . First of all, it s the fi rst experience in my life, in my whole career. It sounds crazy, but in the fi rst half we played good football. Only that actually we made all the goals ourselves, at least four. We made cata-strophic mistakes. If you make such mistakes, the goals, then you get a game like this.

6 It s crazy. This happens in football, but it does not happen often, the 69-year-old added. We did our utmost best all the time, we prepared the team as well as pos-sible, very well I think, and there was confi dence. You saw it in the begin-ning the way we play. We were better. It sounds crazy, for the third time, but if you make such we gave the goals away ourselves. This is a lesson that we should ben-efi t from. We have developed a lot in recent times, and anyone who under-stands football knows that what we have done recently is a positive thing, he , UAE s Ali Mabkhout said Qatar were deserving winners of the quarter-fi nals.

7 The Qatari team was better and they deserved to be in the semi-fi nal. They took maximum advan-tage of our mistakes, said the striker. Friday s quarter-fi nal thumping was Al Annabi s third straight victory over the UAE in as many years following their wins in the Asian Cup semi-fi nal (4-0) and in the Gulf Cup (4-2) in turned up in huge numbers at Katara to watch Qatar s thumping win over the UAE on the big screen. PICTURES: Shemeer Rasheed The quarter-final match between Qatar and the UAE at Al Bayt Stadium on Friday was witnessed by 63,439 spectators a record attendance for a football match in We will have to recover and prepare for the semi-finals, where we are hoping for a strong performance Qatar players celebrate after scoring a goal against the UAE on Friday.

8 Right: Qatar coach Felix Sanchez. (REUTERS)Egypt 3 (Marwan Hamdy (45+1 ), Ahmed Refaat (99 ) and Marwan Daoud (119 ) bt Jordan 1 (Yazan Alnaimat 12 )Algeria 2 (Yacine Brahimi (62 ), Mohamed Belaili (102 ) bt Morocco 2 (Mohamed Nahiri (64 ), Badr Benoun (111 ). Algeria win 5-3 on penaltiesAlgeria s goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi dives to save a penalty from Morocco s Karim El Berkaoui during the FIFA Arab Cup quarter-final at Al Thumama Stadium yesterday. PICTURES: Noushad ThekkayilAlgeria into semis aft er shootout win over MoroccoBy Sahan BidappaDoha Morocco came back from a goal down twice but could not deny Algeria from entering the semi-finals of the FIFA Arab Cup two North African rivals put on a breathtaking at-tacking display of football at the Al Thumama Stadium, with a penalty shootout required to decide the quarter-final contest after it had ended 2-2 after the penalties, Algeria s veteran goalkeeper Rais Mbolhi dived to his right to save Karim El Berkaoui s spot kick.)))

9 Then the 21-year-old Mo-hamed Tougai showed the calmness of a veteran to bury the ball into the centre of the post to send Algeria into the semis with a 5-3 scoreline in the Desert Warriors, who extended their unbeaten run to 37 games, will take on hosts Qatar in the semi-finals at the Al Thumama Stadium on Wednesday. Defending champions Morocco were attempting to extend their own unbeaten streak of 32 but fell short in a thrilling had opened the scoring in the 62nd minute with Yacine Brahi-mi converting a penalty, after Youcef Belaili had won a penalty for being fouled by Mohamed Chibi.

10 The Brazilian referee Wilton Sampaio did not give it a foul at first but changed his decision after VAR s lead stood only for a minute as Mohamed Nahiri equalised for Morocco after heading the ball in the net from an Abdelilah Hafidi the match going into extra time, it needed something special for Algeria to go into the lead again and the impressive Belaili provided one in the 102nd minute. The Qatar SC striker unleashed a stunning right-footed shot from more than 35 yards with Morocco goalkeeper Anas Zniti scrambling back in vain to stop the Morocco were not going down without a fight with captain Badr Bannoun equalising in the 111th minute.