Qatar opened the event with a 2-0 defeat towards Ecuador and now face Senegal within the second Group A match.
Doha, Qatar – As Qatar prepares for a must-win second match of the World Cup on residence soil, the Al Annabi followers are rallying behind the staff with hopes and expectations.
Qatar opened the event with a 2-0 defeat towards Ecuador on Sunday. They now face Senegal in its second match of Group A on Friday.
A loss on Friday will put Qatar out of the operating for a spot within the spherical of 16. Nevertheless, regardless of the duty readily available, followers have come out in help of the house staff.
“We don’t need to convey them below any stress that they have to win, we simply need them to have an excellent recreation,” Ali Ghanem, a teenage fan of the house staff, instructed Al Jazeera.
Qatar, one of many lowest-ranked groups within the event, is making its World Cup debut by advantage of being the host.
Regardless of being the present Asian champions and having improved their rankings in the previous couple of years, Al Annabi have been unable to deal with the stress the event brings.
Whereas captain Hassan Al-Haydos, Akram Afif, Saad Al-Sheeb and Almoez Ali could also be family names within the Gulf state, none of them has performed membership soccer outdoors Qatar and are comparatively unknown to the surface world.
In keeping with Amine, a Tunisian fan, having the world’s eyes on them for the primary time made the staff nervous.
“It was a historic second for them. Now, with the primary match gone, Qatari folks ought to let the staff go and luxuriate in themselves as a substitute of anticipating them to win,” he stated.
Ismaeel Mohammad, a Qatari staff member, referred to as on the followers to get behind the staff.
“Our staff wants its followers now greater than ever,” he stated throughout a information convention on the eve of the match.
Followers duly obliged and turned out to help their staff in Doha’s Musheireb space on Thursday night. They walked all the way down to the Al Annabi Village, a fan zone for Qatar’s supporters at Musheireb, with their maroon and white Qatar flags.
Massive video screens on the fan zone confirmed the staff’s achievements on the Asian Cup and the Arab Cup as followers sang alongside to widespread songs.
Qatar’s coach Felix Sanchez admitted his staff crumbled below stress towards Ecuador.
“We hope that now we're free from all this stress that we had within the opening match,” he instructed reporters on Thursday.
“I hope we will compete and present that we may be extra aggressive than the opposite day, no matter what's the consequence.”
If Qatar fails to win, it would turn into solely the second host nation after South Africa (2010) to crash out on the first hurdle.
The staff stated it would attempt to take inspiration from Saudi Arabia, which beat Argentina 2-1 of their opening match in addition to the opposite Arab groups who've carried out effectively within the event.
Sonia Nemmas, a Jordanian mom of three football-mad ladies, stated her household has at all times supported Qatar and has excessive hopes for the staff.
“In the event that they handle to get a minimum of one win and one draw from the remaining two matches, we should still [have] a miracle,” she stated.
Nemmas thinks Akram Afif and AbdelKarim Hassan would be the stand-out gamers for Qatar.
“Even when they handle to return away from the group stage with a degree, we will probably be joyful.”
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