Defending champs Qatar serves rivals early warning with 3-0 victory over Lebanon

DOHA: 2023 Asian Cup hosts Qatar could not have asked for a better start to their title defence when they won the first match of this year’s tournament in style at Lusail Stadium here tonight.

Their emphatic 3-0 victory over Lebanon in their first Group A match sent a clear warning to all title contenders that the defending champions were not taking things easy even with home ground advantage.

The man of the match was clearly Al Sadd striker Akram Afif, who netted a brace of very crucial and interesting goals, while 2019 Asian Cup Golden Boot winner Almoez Ali scored the remaining goal to gift their team a perfect start to their campaign.

Eager to please a stadium packed with Qatari fans, Ali had actually found the net in the fifth minute only to have his effort ruled offside. The Lebanese were stung into action and managed to create several chances, with their closest effort coming from captain Hassan Maatouk, whose blistering shot was saved by Qatar’s keeper Mostafa Matar in the 21st minute.

The first half looked to end goalless as halftime approached, but Afif had other plans. He managed to score off a cross from Ali in the penalty box in the 45th minute for the first goal of the tournament, making up his failure to find the net in the 31st minute when his header hit the post.

Buoyed by their first goal, Qatar came into the second half strong and dominated the field, which resulted in Ali heading in the host’s second goal in the 56th minute, off a pass from captain Hasan Al Haydos.

Qatar’s third and final goal came at the very last minute of injury time, thanks to Afif, who just seemed to not be satisfied to allow things to wrap up at 2-0.

The defending champions will play Tajikistan next on Jan 17, before their last Group A match against China on Jan 22.-Bernama