Only a few weeks after Argentina’s stunning victory over France in Doha, the World Cup remains the tournament on everyone’s mind.
But as details continue to be discussed, one thing is beyond debate: the host nation’s performance on the pitch was a colossal climax to 12 years of anticipation.
Now, the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup is offering Qatar a chance to quickly get back on the horse after an embarrassing fall.
And the message from Al-Annabi, or the Maroons as the team is known, seems to be that Qatar are here to remind the world that they are still champions of Asia.
But was their 2-0 Group B win over Kuwait the start of a new revolution for the Qatari national team ahead of the challenges ahead on the international front?
To make up for the World Cup failure, Basra 2023 could be a first step towards recovery for the Qataris, who are set to host the 2023 AFC Asian Cup – initially to be held in China – at the end of the year, or Possibly as early as 2024.
Whatever the outcome of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup, the future of the Qatari national team will be looked into by a new regime following the expected end of the Felix Sanchez era following World Cup debacle.
Over the years, Sánchez was seen as the country’s golden generation from 2013 – first as coach of the U-19 team, then the U-23 and, from 2017, the senior side as well.
The crowning glory came with a stunning 2019 AFC Asian Cup win in the United Arab Emirates, but sadly the success couldn’t be sustained until the 2022 World Cup, where it looked as if Qatar were going to bring all those good habits and experience to some extent. has forgotten what he adopted. in the last decade.
Qatar’s three defeats to Ecuador, Senegal and the Netherlands, to leave the competition early without a point and only one goal, was unsatisfying, to say the least, and it betrayed a specific preparation program that most other Competitive teams could only dream of being .
The defeat meant that Qatar became the first host nation to lose all three of their matches at the tournament and joined South Africa as the only other host nation to fail to qualify from the group stage.
Quick action was required, and Sanchez was let go as the Qatar Football Association began to focus on the upcoming defense of the Asian Cup title on home soil.
Indeed, rebuilding towards that goal has been given an unexpectedly quick boost by the 2022 Arabian Gulf Cup in Qatar.
This has allowed new Portuguese coach Bruno Pinheiro to select a mostly Olympic – U-23 – team, with many players participating at senior level for the first time alongside experienced players such as goalkeeper Meshal Barsham and midfielder Asim Madibo. The average age of the squad in Basra is 23.6 years.
The policy paid off in the opening match, with Qatar defeating Kuwait in a 3–0 win, especially in the midfield, which was in stark contrast to what they had displayed at the World Cup.
Tuesday will probably provide a tough test as Qatar’s youngsters will take on defending champions Bahrain, who themselves had a 2-1 win over the UAE.
Qatar had previously won the Arabian Gulf Cup title at home in 1992 and 2004, and in Saudi Arabia in 2014; lost the finals four times; And reached the semi-finals in the previous edition in 2019 in Doha.
A win, or even just a strong respectable performance, would, firstly, be a quick way for the team to reconcile with supporters still angry over their World Cup performance; And secondly, and more importantly, a morale-boosting exercise as the team and coach look forward to the challenges ahead.
Whether Qatar can claim a first title in nine years, and fourth overall in Basra, remains to be seen.
Far more important for the national team’s future and its reputation is how they perform at the 2023 AFC Asian Cup – and then qualification for the 2026 World Cup.