Abu Dhabi: Qatar punished unwelcoming hosts United Arab Emirates 4-0 in a politically charged clash marred by disgraceful crowd behaviour on Tuesday to reach their first Asian Cup final.
The Qataris, whose national anthem was drowned by boos before the game, face Japan in Friday’s final after goals from Boualem Khoukhi, Almoez Ali, Hasan Al-Haydos and Hamid Ismaeil sealed victory for the 2022 World Cup hosts amid ugly scenes in Abu Dhabi.
As they celebrated victory and a record sixth clean sheet at a single Asian Cup, shoes were thrown at them and plastic bottles rained down from angry local fans — as they had for every Qatar goal, midfielder Salem Al-Hajri hit on the head after their third.
Qatar drew first blood after 21 minutes when Khoukhi’s shot squirted under UAE goalkeeper Khalid Eisa, to the horror of a hostile crowd of 38,000.
Afif was then targeted by bottle-throwing Emirati fans as he tried to take a corner, appealing desperately to the referee as he stepped away from the kick. Qatar exacted swift retribution eight minutes before the break, Ali smashing home a right-footed shot from the edge of the box to equal Ali Daei’s 1996 record of eight goals in a single Asian Cup.
UAE almost pulled a goal back after the interval when Ali Mabkhout’s deflected shot forced Saad Al-Sheeb into a fingertip save before substitute Ahmed Khalil also tested Al-Sheeb’s reflexes.
But Qatar never looked seriously threatened and captain Al-Haydos coolly chipped in a third to spark more fury from the UAE fans, before Ismaeil added a fourth to compound UAE’s misery. (AFP)
