At 0:00 Beijing time on the 21st, the opening match of the 2022 Qatar World Cup arrived as scheduled. After 90 minutes, Qatar lost 2-0 to South American powerhouse Ecuador, becoming the first host team in World Cup history to lose in the opening match.
Ecuador's 33-year-old captain, Enner Valencia, scored all the goals, and the Ecuadorian current top scorer has extended his official international match tally to 37.
As the host, although the Qatari team occupies the right time, place and people, the pressure on the team to participate in the World Cup finals for the first time is really not small.
Especially before the match, many media are emphasizing that in the past 21 World Cups, the hosts have never lost in the first game, with a record of 16 wins and 6 draws, which has invisibly increased the psychological burden of the players.
Sure enough, as soon as the opening game came, the Qatari team as a whole was a little too nervous, especially the back line mistakes and fouls. And how could the old South American powerhouse miss the opportunity and score in the 16th minute.
In the 14th minute, Ecuador captain Valencia tripped in the box by an opposing goalkeeper on a counter-attack, and the referee decisively awarded a penalty. The 33-year-old veteran personally took the lead to make it 1-0.
Since then, Ecuador has continued to attack and once again took advantage of the instability of the Qatari defense to score a goal, again by Valencia, the current top scorer of the Ecuadorian national team.
In fact, Valencia scored a goal in the third minute of the match, but was cancelled by the video assistant referee because his teammate was offside first, missing the opportunity to complete the first hat-trick of the World Cup.
In the first half, the Qatari team's long-term lack of high-quality games to play was undoubtedly revealed, and it was a little confused under the pressure of the opponent, and it was not until the last five minutes that he came to his senses.
For Ecuador, Valencia, who have scored 15 goals at Fenerbahce this season, have been in hot form, leading the team to continue to pressure their opponents and force them to make frequent mistakes. This also resulted in Qatar receiving three yellow cards in 36 minutes.
In the second half, Ecuador slowed down its offensive pace and began to possess the ball, while Qatar still did not seem to adapt to the rhythm of the World Cup, in addition to the holes in the backline, and many players also lacked a bit of heat in handling the ball. Until the end of the game, Qatar did not have a single shot that hit the goal frame.
In the end, the match was over, and Ecuador maintained their 2-0 advantage until the end, taking the first three points of the World Cup group stage. Although the international ranking of the two sides is only 6 places apart, in terms of player value, Ecuador's 145 million euros is much higher than Qatar's 15 million euros, which basically reflects the strength gap between the two sides.
The victory was crucial for Ecuador to face the Netherlands, the uncrowned kings of their group, and Senegal, the winner of the new Africa Cup of Nations. However, Valencia, the team's goal-scoring hero, withdrew from the game due to injury in the 70th minute of the game, and it is not yet known how the injury will be.
For Qatar, they became the first host team in World Cup history to lose in the opening match, and considering that the Netherlands and Senegal are above them, the team may follow in South Africa's footsteps and become the second host team in history not to qualify from the group.
Before the match, Qatar coach Alexis Sanchez said that the 21st means a lot for Qatari football and they are ready to prove to everyone that they deserve the World Cup. At present, the team still needs to improve a lot, especially the defense and the psychological level of the players.
Qatar coach Alexis Sanchez
It is worth mentioning that foreign journalist Amjad Taha reported that Qatar has bribed 8 Ecuadorian players to lose 0-1 to Qatar in the opening match of the World Cup group stage. He also claimed that five Qatari and Ecuadorian insiders confirmed the information. However, after this game, this rumor has been dispelled.
The situation of the warring parties
Qatar:
As the host of this tournament, Qatar occupies the right time, place, people and people, which is their biggest motivation to hit the knockout round.
In the squad, all 26 Qatar's players are from domestic leagues, and 11 of them, including the captain, are members of the league's defending champion Al Saad, and there is little need to run in with each other.
In addition, coach Alexis Sanchez has been coaching in Qatar since 2006 and officially took charge of the national team in 2017. The above factors make Qatar an unprecedented team of unity and tacit understanding, and it is also their strength.
In 2019, Qatar won the Asian Cup final 3-1 against Japan, with six of their seven matches being 0 sheets. In addition, the forward twins Ali and Afif won the shooter king and assist king respectively, and their strength should not be underestimated.
However, the reality of players being out of touch with international high-level leagues may also make it difficult for Qatar to adapt to the high-intensity impact, and previous invitations to the Copa America and the CONCACAF Gold Cup have exposed defensive weaknesses. In the World Cup opener, something similar happened again.
Ecuador:
Ecuador played in the World Cup for the first time in 2002 and subsequently missed only the 2018 World Cup in Russia. Since Argentina coach Gustavo Alfaro took over, Ecuador has quickly emerged from the gloom and stormed its youth.
In 2019, Ecuador won the Under-20 South American Championship and won the third place in the Under-20 World Cup in the same year, with great potential. The team is characterized by speed, strength, especially in counter-attacks, and often can quickly defeat the enemy.
Brazil coach Tite has said Ecuador could be a surprise team in this tournament. "They are difficult opponents to deal with, with strength, speed, a clear idea of the game and a good group of young men."
In the squad, 21-year-old Moisés Caicedo, who currently plays for Brighton in the Premier League, is undoubtedly a core player. The "B2B" midfielder has proven himself in the opener, playing an important role at both ends of the offensive and defensive ends. And in front of him is the 33-year-old veteran Valencia. In the opener, he scored twice to give the team a head start in the group.
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