Al Annabi look to ‘bring joy’ on Qatar’s historic day

Doha: After 12 years of wide-ranging preparations, Qatar is finally set to open the historic FIFA World Cup 2022 at packed 60,000-seater Al Bayt Stadium. As the entire country relishes the big day, head coach Felix Sanchez hopes Al Annabi will double the joy for people in the country by winning their first-ever World Cup match. 

The reigning Asian champions face Ecuador in the World Cup opener today and Sanchez has promised his side will bring ‘A’ game in the match as he savours the ‘moments of happiness’. 

“It’s an important and historic day for Qatar,” Sanchez told a press conference on the eve of opening match. 

“These are the moments of happiness for us and for the people of Qatar. The country has made such a huge effort to make this happen. I am very happy to be the one kicking off this competition,” he said.

While Qatar are making their World Cup debut, Ecuador are featuring in their fourth World Cup with their best achievement coming in 2006 when they reached the Round of 16. 

Although the La Tri – ranked 44th in FIFA rankings – are South America’s lowest-qualifying and less fancied side, they will start six places above the home side. 

Sanchez said Ecuador side will start as favourites against Qatar, who will also face African champions Senegal and the Netherlands in Group A. 

“Ecuador played great World Cup qualifiers and came to the tournament from the toughest region that has Brazil and Argentina. They have a very young team, new generation of players, who are heroes in their country. All statistics make them favourites against us,” said the Spaniard. 

“On paper, they (Qatar’s three opponents) should get the three points, but we of course are here to show our people that we can be a competitive team,” said Sanchez.

“We’ll bring our ‘A’ game and play our football, and try to bring joy... We know that it will be a great challenge for us but we’re very eager to play this match and are very happy to be here,” he added. 

Qatar spent over four months in isolated training camps in Spain and Austria in build up for the World Cup with Sanchez keeping players away from the QNB Stars League. 

“Everything that has been done was aimed at preparing a competitive team. All our players play in local league so we thought to take them out of the country. If they were playing in Bundesliga or the Premier League I would be happy. But our situation is different,” he said.

 Ecuador will be without Byron Castillo, who was dropped despite being cleared by the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) after Chile brought a claim over his ineligibility in World Cup qualifying matches. The team still boasts players like Premier League midfielder Moises Caicedo and veteran striker Enner Valencia.

“They are really competitive. They are compact in the middle that makes very difficult to counter attack. They have good centre backs who defend well and we know we will have to cope with that,” said Sanchez, who has history on his side as the World Cup hosts have never lost their opening game. 

Qatar and Ecuador have played three times before with their last match was played in 2018 when Al Annabi won 4-3 in a Doha friendly. 

All goals in the match were scored by Qatar forwards Almoez Ali (2), Akram Afif and Hassan Al Haydos, with the attacking trio set to take the field today. Experienced Abdelkarim Hassan could marshall a five-man backline.

Meanwhile, Ecuador coach Gustavo Alfaro said there are no favourites in the opening game. 

“Qatar’s favouritism is that they have been preparing this match for 12 years. An orderly and well-prepared team can complicate anyone. It is not a minor fact that Qatar is the champion from Asia,” said the former Argentine footballer. 

“We have had 3 days to prepare for the match and I am satisfied with the work. Our favouritism stems from the fact that this team has already shown what it can do. What we did in the play-offs is not enough for us and that is the challenge, to grow more,” he added.