AFC Asian Cup hosts UAE were convincingly beaten by Qatar
Qatar reached the final of the AFC Asian Cup on Tuesday by defeating host nation the United Arab Emirates 4-0 in the semi-final.
Goals from Boualem Khoukhi and Almoez Ali had given the Qatari’s a 2-0 lead by half-time, and when Hassan Al-Haydos scored a third with ten minutes remaining, the result was as good as confirmed. Hamid Ismail completed the scoring in stoppage time, shortly after Ismail Ahmed was sent off for the UAE.
Although from a footballing perspective, the game was purely about reaching Friday’s final, the recent political and diplomatic tensions between the two nations helped create a hostile atmosphere prior to and during the game.
Video posted to Twitter by Jordan Gardner revealed how the majority of the crowd in the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium had booed the Qatari national anthem shortly before kick-off.
https://twitter.com/mrjordangardner/status/1090248224441393157
A further video showed some of the host’s supporters throwing shoes in the direction of the Qatari players as they celebrated their second goal of the game.
https://twitter.com/mrjordangardner/status/1090258401840386050
According to reports, there were other incidents of shoe throwing, while Doha-based Al Jazeera also reported that bottles were thrown onto the playing field.
https://twitter.com/mrjordangardner/status/1090258401840386050
Qatar, who already upset South Korea en route to the last four, will now face Japan in the final on Friday.
Japan, the most successful team in the history of the AFC Asian Cup with four titles, made it through their own semi-final with a 3-0 win over Iran on Monday.
