Doha, November 29 (QNA) – Qatar national team lost 0-2 against the Netherlands in their Group A match of the FIFA World Cup Qatar 2022 at Al Bayt Stadium on Tuesday.
Cody Gakpo scored the Netherlands’ first goal in the 26th minute, while Frenkie de Jong scored the second goal in the 48th minute. With this score, the Netherlands raised their tally to 7 points to qualify for the round of 16 as top of the group, while Qatar encountered their third loss in the tournament to bid farewell to the tournament with no points.
The Qatari national team started their first World Cup show up by losing 2-0 to Ecuador in the opening match and then losing 3-1 to Senegal in their second match in Group A.
Without further getting to know the opponent, the Netherlands started the match with an intensified attack, using the skills of their playmaker Frenkie de Jong to pass the ball to the forwarders Memphis Depay and Cody Gakpo.
The first minute barely passed when Depay made his first powerful shot that missed the goal near the post.
The Qatari national team withdrew to the back, counting on swift counterattacks, one of which Hassan Al Haydos managed to make the shot that the goalkeeper saved in the 4th minute. However, the Netherlands replied quickly through an exchange of the ball between Daley Blind and Depay in front of the goal that nearly resulted in the Netherlands’ opening goal had it not been for the intervention of the goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham.
The Netherlands dominated the course of the first half, creating many opportunities in front of the goal, which burdened the Qatari defense that held up till the mid of the first half. In the 14th minute, de Jong made a shot that passed over the post, while Dumfries made his shot in the 19th minute from the right side, hitting the outer side of the net.
The Qatari national team tried to reduce the pressure by activating offensive transformations. In the 23rd minute, Akram Afif started an attack attempt when he passed the ball to Abdelkarim Hassan, who sent a cross that Van Dijk turned into a corner kick before reaching Almoez Ali. Akram played the corner kick that reached Abdelkarim, who made a powerful shot that passed near the post.
The Dutch pressure resulted in the opening goal for the Netherlands when Davy Klaassen made a pass deep in the defense that reached Gakpo, who made a powerful shot that made its way into the net of Meshaal Barsham in the 26th minute, putting the Netherlands in the lead.
Qatar tried to respond quickly when in the 26th minute, Ismail Mohamad penetrated the right side and made a powerful shot, but the Dutch goalkeeper managed to control it. In the 28th minute, Ismail again sent a cross that was too long for Almoez. In the 3rd minute of the overtime, Memphis Depay was in a single encounter with the Qatari goalkeeper, making a powerful ground shot that passed near the post to end the first half 1-0 for the Netherlands.
The Netherlands started the second half with the same performance to quickly score the second goal when in the48th minute, Depay made a powerful shot that Barsham saved to reach Frenkie de Jong, who put it in the empty goal.
The coach of the Qatari national team made several substitutions in a move to improve the offensive side, so he replaced Almoez Ali with Mohammed Muntari and Hassan Al Haydos and Assim Madibo with Karim Boudiaf and Ali Asad. However, the substitutions did not prevent the great advantage of the Netherlands, as the substitute Steven Berghuis scored the third goal for the Netherlands but the VAR referee canceled due to a handball on the forward before scoring in the 67th minute. (QNA)