We have lift off! Qatar finally scored the first points of their 2018 World Cup qualifying campaign when they defeated Syria 1-0 yesterday.
Midfielder Hassan al-Haydous scored from the spot in the 37th minute and what a valuable goal that proved to be for the hosts.
Before the start of the match, Qatar, having played three matches, were languishing at the bottom of the standings. A close 2-3 loss to 10-man South Korea had not done much to change the opinion that Qatar’s chances of qualifying for the Russia World Cup were fading fast.
They had to deliver against Syria – a team that had defeated China in their previous match. And while it wasn’t the best of performances from Qatar, they were able to ride on that penalty strike from al-Haydous and give the supporters at the Al Sadd stadium a lot to cheer about.
This win moves Qatar to fifth in the table, after China lost 0-3 to Uzbekistan earlier in the day. Qatar coach Jorge Fossati made three changes to his starting line-up for yesterday’s match. Youngster Akram Afif, Ibrahim Majed (made captain for this match) and Ali Asadalla were brought in while Rodrigo Tabata, Abdelkarim Hassan and Ahmed Mohamed al-Sayed were on the bench.
The home team knew that they would have to deal with the stubborn defence that Syria would put up, but it was the Syrians who started the match with an attacking intent.
They were constantly able to create pressure on the Qatar defence. The hosts were not being allowed any time to settle down and this seemed to disrupt their rhythm. Fossati’s boys were looking sketchy and unlikely to score a goal.
But then in the 35th minute, Qatar’s workhorse al-Haydous danced his way into the Syria box where he was fouled by Zaher Medane. The referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot and the midfielder fired the ball in, into the bottom left hand corner to give his team the lead.
The goal relieved the pressure that the players seemed to be playing with and the home team started to play with more confidence. Sebastian Soria had a great chance to double the lead towards the end of the first half. Syria’s Ahmad al-Saleh failed to clear the ball and Soria was able to rob the defender and shoot towards the goal but it was too weak and was easily cleared.
The second half began with the Qatar team again on the attack. They were creating chances but were also missing close ones. Afif provided a well-timed through pass for Soria but the striker missed again.  
In the 68th minute al-Haydous attempted a lob after being released by Asadalla with a perfectly-placed pass but the midfielder’s lob was palmed off by Syria keeper Ibrahim Alma.
Qatar enjoyed a brief period of dominance but the gritty Syrians team were threatening with regular counter attacks. And they dialed up the pressure towards the end of the match.
The home team’s defence were tested to the hilt as the visitors tried desperately to find the equaliser. And they also scored one in the 85th minute. Mahmoud Almawas let loose a curler that tipped in towards the top right corner but al-Sheeb produced an acrobatic one-handed save to deny Syria and keep Qatar’s qualifying hopes alive.
And in the end Qatar, despite missing those clear chances, were able to hold out for a win and happily grab the three points. This win will definitely give a lot of confidence to Fossati’s boys. They play China next on November 15 and with Syria playing table toppers Iran, the Maroons have a great chance to move to fourth in the standings.    
The screams of delight that Fossati let out as the final whistle sounded, showed how much this win meant to him and his team. Now to ride this momentum and register more wins.

Results
Group A: Uzbekistan 2 (Bikmaev 50, Shukurov 85) China 0; Iran 1 (S. Azmoun 25) South Korea 0; Qatar 1 (Al-Haydos 37) Syria 0
Group B: Australia 1 (Jedinak 52-pen)
Japan 1 (Haraguchi 5)
Iraq 4 (Abdulraheem 7, 25, 87, 90+4) Thailand 0

points table
Group A
Teams    P    W     D     L    PTS     
IRAN    4    3    1    0    10
UZBEKISTAN    4    3    0    1    9
KOREA    4    2    1    1    7
SYRIA    4    1    1    2    4
QATAR    4    1    0    3    3
CHINA     4    0    1    3    1
Group B
Teams    P    W     D     L    PTS     
AUSTRALIA    4    2    2    0    8
JAPAN    4    2    1    1    7
SAUDI ARABIA    3    2    1    0    7
UAE    3    2    0    1    6
IRAQ    4    1    0    3    3
THAILAND    4    0    0    4    0