Valencia double eases Ecuador to win over hapless Qatar

Hosts Qatar made a poor start to the World Cup when they were outplayed by Ecuador to slip to a 2-0 defeat at the Al Bayt Stadium in Al Khor on Sunday writes Nick Said in Doha.

Two goals from veteran striker Enner Valencia secured a deserved win for the South Americans, who might have won by a greater margin had the forward not also had a third-minute goal ruled out for a marginal offside.

Qatar could not take advantage of that good fortune and become the first host nation in World Cup history to lose their opening game and put them up against it to advance to the round of 16 with matches against Netherlands and Senegal to come.

They showed little to suggest they could beat of those sides and could join Bafana Bafana as the second hosts to fail to make the knockout stages.

Some 67,372 fans were packed into the stadium and many more took the streets of cities around the country as Qatar’s big moment arrived but proved an anti-climax for expectant home supporters.

Valencia, 33, who played for West Ham and Everton in the Premier League previously, gave Ecuador the lead on 16 minutes when he coolly slotted a penalty having been upended by home goalkeeper Saad Al Sheeb.

It was 2-0 at the half-hour mark as Valencia got his second, or third if you take a cynical view of his early disallowed opener, heading home Angelo Preciado’s cross.

There was a large exodus of home fans at halftime with the writing on the wall for them as their team created very little in the 90 minutes.

Remarkably, Valencia scored all three of Ecuador’s goals last time they qualified for the World Cup in 2014, so has now netted their last five.

“I dreamt so many times about winning this opening match. This was a dream that I managed to score and help my team get the three points,” Valencia said.

“We managed to score a couple of quick goals which helped us to get control of the game and win the three points … We think we can go very far and perform well.”

For Qatar, they have blown was arguably their best chance for a win in the pool and unless they show a massive improvement, will surely end behind Bafana Bafana’s tally of four points in 2010, which would make them the worst performing hosts ever.

“Obviously this was not what we were hoping for,” Coach Felix Sanchez said. “There is no excuse, I want to congratulate our opponents Ecuador.

“We did not play at our best level. Maybe the responsibility and the nerves got the better of us. We just have to let go and forget about it and be more competitive. We can do it.”

Qatar are next in action on Friday when they host Senegal, while Ecuador take on the Netherlands.