Baku, February 8, AZERTAC
Winless and pointless at the World Cup, Qatar is now one game away from back-to-back Asian Cup titles, according to AP.
Almoez Ali struck in the 82nd-minute at Al Thumama Stadium on Wednesday to seal a 3-2 win against Iran and settle a thrilling semifinal.
The host and defending champion will now play Jordan in Saturday’s final at Lusail Stadium, where Lionel Messi lifted the World Cup for Argentina in 2022.
How Qatar’s fortunes have changed since staging soccer’s most prestigious tournament just over a year ago.
“The World Cup (it) was the first time we had played in it. Yes we were the host and quite frankly it was quite difficult,” forward Akram Afif said. “This is the second major tournament at home. It helped us.”
Eliminated from its own World Cup at the earliest possible stage, Qatar exited almost without trace, losing all three of its group games.
That is a distant memory now, with Marquez Lopez’s team on the brink of retaining the Asian Cup title it won for the first time in 2019.
“We’ve one final step left to accomplish our target,” said the Spanish coach, who was only hired in December but has quickly become a national hero.