Qatar stun Mexico with rare win to advance to quarterfinals of CONCACAF Gold Cup

Qatar’s national team defied expectations and secured a valuable and rare win against group leaders Mexico with a clean sheet that helped them qualify for the quarter-finals of the CONCACAF Gold Cup, benefiting from Honduras’ 2-1 win over Haiti. .
“Al-Adam” occupies the second place of the two teams with four points, Honduras with the third goal difference, behind the leading team “El Tre” with six points.
Participating in a youth team grafted with some elements of experience, Al-Annabi qualified again for the quarter-finals, which he reached in the previous edition in 2021, where he finished third, losing to the United States. semi-final.
Portuguese coach Carlos Queiroz’s men overcame the forced absences of Bassam Al-Rawi (accumulation of cautions) and Youssef Abdel-Razak (suspended case) and huge pressure from the Mexico fans. In front of over 60,000 spectators at Levi’s Stadium in California, he recorded a remarkable performance against the most prominent candidates to win the tournament. , he has won the title eight times.
Al-Annabi will face Group C leaders Panama (6 points), El Salvador (one point), Costa Rica (one point) and Martinique ( 3 points) after matches between.

“Fighting Sense”
Dedicating the victory to the spirit of the late Qatari coach Saeed Al-Miznad, a former adviser to the Qatari national teams, Queiroz said, “Qatar deserved to win after a wonderful and tough match given by the players against a strong Mexican national team.”
Queiroz, 70, attributed the win against Mexico (ranked 14th in the world) to the fighting spirit his players were armed with. “I told the players that we always have to focus on Mexico and take advantage of the opportunities,” he said.
In turn, Hazem Shehata (scorer) said, “Al-Annabi entered the match motivated by the win and he gave a great match that deserved the three points.”
And Shehata (25 years old) expressed his great joy at scoring the only goal, saying, “It was great to score in this stadium and in front of this big crowd,” in statements to Al-Qaz Sports channels.

Mexican blockade.. and Qatari arrogance
Queiroz entered the match with a different line-up, which saw Musab Khedr replace Al-Rawi and Hazem Shehada replace Abdel-Razzak, who was red-carded after a clash with the Honduran players. Last match.
The Mexico national team opened the match with a pressing attack on the Qatar goal, and Ozil Herrera opened up a chance with a shot into the hands of goalkeeper Mishal Barshim (15), followed by a dangerous cross by Tariq Salman (24). , Musab Kadar met her with a cross over the ruler before Al-Annabi succeeded in scoring through an organized counterattack led by Muhammad Wad, and Hazem Shehada rose to her and headed to the veteran goalkeeper’s left. Guillermo Ochoa (27).
Mexico stepped up their pressure on a goal by Barshim, brother of world champion Modas in the high jump competition. Santiago Jimenez’s header first had a chance, which was saved by the goalkeeper (30), then Edson Alvarez scored a goal. Barshim saved Greek Arphilim Pineda’s AEK Athens with a header (35) and support from Ahmed Suhail (4 + 45) before Mexico finished off a first-half chance with a solo player.
In the second half, the Mexican national team laid siege to Al-Adam, but most of the attacks were thwarted by the brilliance of goalkeeper Barshim, and the courage of the defenders, the most important of which, as chances continued to arrive. Single Jimenez hit a ball near the right post (70), then finished off Henri Martin’s shot inside the area. Salman (84), Alvarez’s header bounced off the bar (86), and finally Martin’s acrobatics were Barshim’s arms (4 + 90).

USA and Jamaica qualified
In the second game, Heidi conceded two goals from Jerry Bengtsson (42) and Jose signing Honduras, but failed to defend the goal of Fransty Pirro (20), which was enough to qualify for the quarterfinals. Mario Pinto (59), both teams have a bye from the first round of the tournament.
In Group A, USA and Jamaica qualified for the quarter-finals after beating Trinidad and Tobago (6-0), including hat-tricks from Jesus Ferreira and St. Kitts and Nevis (5-0) respectively.
The USA topped the group with seven points, one goal behind Jamaica, in second.