By Goal.com News on Saturday, 04 September 2021
Category: Goal.com News

LIVE: Qatar vs Portugal

52' Qatar just can't get their lines clear as another corner is headed away only as far as Moutinho on the edge of the box. He lets it bounce before hitting it on the half-volley, but it swerves straight into Yousef Hassan's gloves.

50' Guedes sets off down the left again and pulls the ball back for Neves on the edge of the box. He lays it off to Mario, but his cross is blocked by Khoukhi and deflects out for a corner.

48' Portugal are dominating possession in the opening minutes of the second half and they're patiently trying to open up Qatar. Mario plays a one-two with Moutinho, but his throughball into Silva is blocked.

46' Portugal get us back underway for the second half!

Santos will be pleased with how his side reacted after their sluggish start and since taking the lead, a lot more goals have seemed likely. Sanchez will have been pleased with their bright start, but they've got a tough 45 minutes ahead of them as they try to avoid a heavy defeat.

Portugal lead 10-man Qatar 2-0 at half-time. Qatar started brightly, with Ali hitting the post early on before Hatim was denied by Lopes. Then two goals in just under 90 seconds for Portugal rattled the hosts. Silva dived in to send his header past Barsham before Otavio scored a brilliant header to double the lead on his debut. Barsham was then sent off after a VAR review just before the break after he denied Guedes a goalscoring opportunity.

45' + 3' HALF-TIME: QATAR 0-2 PORTUGAL.

45' + 1' Moutinho steps up to take the free-kick just inside the D, and he's trying to curl his effort towards the near post. Al Rawi gets his head to it in the wall though and deflects it out for a corner.

42' VAR is just having a look at the incident involving Barsham and Guedes and the referee has been asked to go over to the monitor and have a look. By the looks of the pictures, Guedes is well onside, and the goalkeeper could be in trouble here...

41' Neves slides a good throughball down the middle for Guedes and he's through on goal. Barsham rushes out of his box and catches the forward inside the D, bringing him down, but there'll be no free-kick as the offside flag is up.

39' Qatar win a free-kick deep on the right wing and Afif swings a brilliant cross into the middle of the box. Ali is jumping for it, but Lopes reads it well and rushes off his line to punch it away.

37' Qatar's sloppy passing is inviting the pressure onto them as Afif gives it away this time. Portugal work it out to Guedes on the left again and he squares it to Silva. He's behind it, but just manages to poke it goalwards and it's an easy save for Barsham.

35' GOOD SAVE! Silva's shot is blocked by Al Rawi and it loops up nicely for Otavio to hit on the volley. Barsham sees it late but manages to parry it away, but only as far as Silva. He slices at the volley though and it swerves wide.

33' Qatar just can't get out of their own half at the moment as Portugal come again down the left. Otavio plays a good one-two with Guedes before trying to tee up Mario, but Khoukhi sticks out a leg just in time to block it.

31' It's well-worked by Portugal as they knock it around in midfield to open up some space in behind. Neves has a go from range, keeping his shot low, but it's held onto by Barsham at his near post.

29' Silva has switched out to the left for the time being and he slides in Guedes, who is making the overlapping run. His first touch takes him around Pedro, but he set off too early and the offside flag goes up.

27' CLOSE! Portugal have found their rhythm now and Qatar can't cope with this new pressure. Mario pulls away from two defenders on the edge of the box and he drills a low shot towards the near post, but it's just wide.

22' Portugal are still struggling to get into the final third here and they're yet to have a shot on goal. Semedo tries to feed it through to Silva, but he's being given no time on the ball and he loses it again.

20' Otavio finds himself in a pocket of space and chips a lovely ball into the box for Mendes to run onto. He shows too much of it to the keeper though, and Barsham rushes off his line to collect it.

18' It's another good break from Qatar and Afif is at the heart of it again. He threads a throughball forward down the left for Boudiaf to chase and he gets to it just ahead of Danilo, but can only knock it out of play for a goal-kick.

16' GOOD SAVE! Afif swings another cross into the box and it's tamely punched away by Lopes. Hatim latches onto the loose ball and hits his shot towards the far post. The keeper sees it late because of the crowd in front of him and pushes it away.

14' Portugal have a free-kick through the middle, but instead of swinging it into the box, Neves squares it to Semedo. He does curl a deep cross into the box towards Guedes, but it's too close to Barsham, who holds it.

12' It's a clever throughball from Danilo through to Silva on the right of the box, but once again, the forward has a defender tight to him. He tries to turn away from Hassan, but the players tangle together and Qatar have it back.

9' OFF THE POST! It's another great chance for Qatar as they break on the counter, with Afif driving forward down the left again. He squares it to Ali on the edge of the box, and he steps away from Duarte before thumping the outside of the post with a close-range effort.

8' Mendes plays another loose pass forward and it's cut out by Al Ahrak. He tries to feed it through to Ali and set Qatar off on the counter, but there's too much on it and Danilo collects it.

6' Portugal are switching the ball from right to left on the halfway line to try and pull Qatar out of their organised shape. Semedo lifts it over the top for Silva, but three defenders quickly crowd around him, and he's left with nowhere to go.

4' CHANCE! Afif plays a good one-two with Boudiaf to get away from Semedo down the left before pulling a good ball back for Hatim. Duarte is wrong-footed and the space opens up for a shot, but the captain ends up dragging it wide of the far post.

2' Portugal are dominating possession in the opening minutes here and Neves spots Silva pulling off the back of Hassan. He goes long, and the forward brings it down well, but the offside flag goes up against him when he lays it off to Otavio.

1' Afif gets the game underway for Qatar!

The teams are out onto the pitch now and kick-off is just moments away!

This is the first-ever meeting between Qatar and Portugal in any competition.

Felix Sanchez makes five changes to his team after their loss to Serbia last time out, bringing in Barsham, Ahmed, Al Ahrak, Hatim and Afif into the side. Al Sheeb, Salman, Al Haydos and Al Aaeldin drop to the bench.

QATAR SUBS: Ahmad Moein, Mohammed Jadoua, Musab Al Khader, Ahmed Al Hamawende, Ahmed Al Aaeldin, Yusuf Abdurisag, Hassan Al Haydos, Yousef Hassam Assim Madibo, Tarek Salman, Sultan Al Brake, Mahmoud Adbunada.

QATAR STARTING XI (5-3-2): Meshaal Barsham; Pedro Miguel, Bassam Al Rawi, Boualem Khoukhi, Abdelkarim Hassan, Homam Ahmed; Abdullah Al Ahrak, Karim Boudiaf, Abdelaziz Hatim; Almoez Ali.

Fernando Santos makes 11 changes to the side that beat Ireland on Wednesday, as he keeps one eye on their next qualifier against Azerbaijan on Tuesday. Moutinho captains the side and Otavio comes in to make his debut. There's no Ronaldo as he was released from the squad due to picking up a suspension, but it's still a very strong bench.

PORTUGAL SUBS: Rui Patricio, Pepe, Ruben Dias, Raphael Guerreiro, Joao Palhinha, Francisco Trincao, Bernardo Silva, Bruno Fernandes, Rafa, Joao Cancelo, Diogo Jota, Diogo Costa.

PORTUGAL STARTING XI (4-3-3): Anthony Lopes; Nelson Semedo, Danilo Pereira, Domingues Duarte, Nuno Mendes; Joao Mario, Ruben Neves, Joao Moutinho; Otavio, Andre Silva, Goncalo Guedes.

After a disappointing Euros campaign, Portugal returned to international duty on Wednesday. A late display from the record-breaking Cristiano Ronaldo earned them a late 2-1 win over the Republic of Ireland to continue their unbeaten run in their qualifying campaign. The hosts of next year's World Cup, Qatar, are continuing with their preparations for the tournament with more friendlies. They come into this game on the back of two consecutive defeats in all competitions, having lost 4-0 to Serbia in their most recent friendly match on Wednesday.

Hello and welcome to live coverage of the international friendly between Qatar and Portugal at the Nagyerdei Stadium!

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