Doha, Nov 25 (AFP\/APP):Qatar’s early World Cup exit will not be fatal for the country’s football development, manager Felix Sanchez said Friday, after the hosts became the first team to be eliminated.<\/p>\n
A 1-1 draw between Ecuador and the Netherlands sent Qatar crashing out of the tournament just hours after a 3-1 defeat to Senegal had left them on the brink.<\/p>\n
Qatar became only the second host nation to go out in the first round following South Africa in 2010, and the first to be eliminated after two games.<\/p>\n
But Sanchez believes football will continue to develop in the tiny Gulf state despite the disappointment, and targeted a return to the world’s biggest stage.<\/p>\n
“The World Cup will finish but football will continue here,” said the Spaniard, who led Qatar to the 2019 Asian Cup title.<\/p>\n
“It’s a football country and they want to keep developing young talent so they can reach the senior team. We can keep on competing within our limitations in Asia.<\/p>\n
“By doing that, we’ll get more experience and we’ll be able to play in more competitions like this.”<\/p>\n
Qatar made a nervy start to the tournament in an opening-day defeat to Ecuador but put up more of a fight against Senegal.<\/p>\n
The hosts refused to lie down when Senegal scored either side of half-time and pulled a goal back through substitute Mohammed Muntari to set up a dramatic finale.<\/p>\n
Senegal nipped the comeback in the bud with a third goal six minutes later, but Sanchez was pleased with his team’s fighting spirit.<\/p>\n
“We wanted to show what we could do on the pitch today,” he said.<\/p>\n
“Most of our opponents are ahead of us but the players did very well and at times we managed to compete against a tough opponent in Senegal.”<\/p>\n
Qatar’s final group game against the Netherlands on Tuesday has now become a dead rubber for the hosts but Sanchez believes it will be anything but worthless.<\/p>\n
“We have a very tough ahead of us against the Netherlands and we intend to be competitive,” he said.<\/p>\n
“We can’t miss a chance like this, playing at a World Cup.”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Doha, Nov 25 (AFP\/APP):Qatar’s early World Cup exit will not be fatal for the country’s football development, manager Felix Sanchez said Friday, after the hosts became the first team to be eliminated. A 1-1 draw between Ecuador and the Netherlands sent Qatar crashing out of […]<\/p>\n
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