Action during the Concacaf Gold Cup semi-final between Qatar and USA yesterday.
Austin, Texas: Qatar’s run in the Concacaf Gold Cup was put to a halt following a bitter 0-1 defeat to the United States in the semifinal match in front of a sold-out audience of 20,500 at the Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas, yesterday.
Qatar was, in many ways, the better team, creating more goal scoring opportunities, including a second-half missed penalty. The 2022 World Cup hosts probably deserved at least a goal or two, but such a breakthrough never materialised.
The AFC Asian Cup champions were a threat early, with their first dangerous opportunity coming from a Hassan Al Haydos interception in the seventh minute. Qatar’s captain provided a filtering pass from the right to the left edge of the box, but Almoez Ali could not convert.
US goalkeeper Matt Turner then came up with an important save in the 19th minute by pushing away a deflected attempt from Qatar’s attack.
Turner came up with another pivotal save two minutes later, denying Abdulaziz Hatem on this occasion. The Qatari forward attempted to capitalize on a second chance opportunity after a pass from Akram Afif was deflected.
The US had an opportunity in the 43rd minute via a free-kick, as an attempt from Gianluca Busio found Daryl Dike. Still, Qatar goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham captured the ball for safekeeping.
In the 52nd minute, Matthew Hoppe provided a pass that cut through the defence and into the box, but Dike was denied the finishing touch.
But the most significant chance of the game for Qatar was one Turner couldn’t reach. After a foul from James Sands in the box awarded after a lengthy VAR review, Hassan Al Hayados stepped to the spot with Qatar in total control. He missed, giving the US the exhale needed to kick start their late surge.
The Qatar penalty miss sparked the US attack, and they came close to an opener in the 78th minute when Hoppe found Sam Vines running into the box. Still, the US defender would be blocked from scoring as Qatar recovered and immediately cleared.
The match-winning goal would finally arrive in the 86th minute of play, as a pressing U.S. team recovered the ball deep in the Qatar half and went on the counter. Gyazi Zardes found the winner by pushing a shot into the net off a cross from Nicholas Gioacchini, sending the US to tomorrow’s Final.
The US matched its record with 13 consecutive home wins and advanced to Sunday night’s final in Las Vegas against defending champion Mexico or Canada. They lock horns later in the evening.
Qatar will now shift focus to September’s European qualifiers for the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
Qatar will play three matches in the opening week of September; as the FIFA World Cup 2022 host nation, Qatar has already qualified for the tournament.
Qatar automatically qualifies as the hosts but is taking part in the qualifying to get match practice in the lead up to the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
