QATAR on Sunday became the first host to lose their opening match since FIFA resorted to allowing the hosts kickstart the competition since 2006.
In the match played on Sunday, Enner Valencia’s two first half goals gave Ecuador a commanding 2-0 lead over hosts Qatar in that opening game of the FIFA World Cup. In the first half, it was all about the dominance of the South Americans as they completely outplayed Qatar. The first goal was a penalty while the second was a brilliant header, all coming from the captain. Qatar, seeking to avoid being the first World Cup hosts to lose an opening game, looked shaky despite months of preparations.
The host nation, as earlier pointed out, has never lost their opening game at the Men’s FIFA World Cup. Qatar however failed to extend that run. While Qatar want to show this World Cup is unique, this record is perhaps not exactly the way they wanted to showcase it.
Some solace for them is the fact that the home team has not always contested the official opening match of the Men’s World Cup. FIFA restored the tradition of the host nation playing in the first game in 2006 after handing the honour to the defending champions between 1974-2002.
Meanwhile, in the match, Brighton and Hove Albion duo Moises Caicedo and Pervis Estupinan (for Ecuador) offered thrust and guile in the engine room and down the left respectively as Gustavo Alfaro’s side threatened to rack up a cricket score, but they kept the scoring down as they eased down to preserve themselves for tougher fixtures ahead.
For Felix Sanchez’s Qatar, it is – and they got off to – the worst possible start. Valencia thought he had opened the tournament’s scoring inside three minutes, nodding in from close range after a penalty box melee from an Estupinan free-kick, but VAR mysteriously disallowed the strike on the grounds of a very dubious offside.
On 16 minutes, however, the Ecuadorians got justice, as nervy home goalkeeper Saad Al-Sheeb felled the onrushing Valencia, conceding a penalty.
Read the full article here
