FIFA World Cup hosts Qatar have been eliminated in the group stage after Senegal condemned them to a second straight defeat. The Middle Eastern side battled valiantly but became the first country knocked out of the competition after the Netherlands drew 1-1 against Ecuador. Gulf News football experts discuss tonight's action and look ahead to tomorrow's games.
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00:00Hello and welcome to Golf News Kicking Back. We are into the second round of group games
00:14at the 2022 FIFA World Cup in Qatar. There have been three games today. Iran beat Wales
00:20by two goals to nil, Senegal beat Qatar 3-1 and the Netherlands have just played out a
00:251-1 draw against Ecuador. Now the result of that last match means that the host nation
00:31Qatar are out of the World Cup. They can't make it to the round of 16 anymore having
00:36lost their first two games of the tournament. Shyam, it was difficult for the team playing
00:41in their first World Cup, wasn't it? Absolutely. Not just that, we also need to be aware of
00:47the fact that Qatar are in the World Cup simply because they are the host. They didn't have
00:54to go through the qualification process, which itself means that they didn't have adequate
01:00preparations to be in the World Cup. Not just that, as a footballing nation, they are placed
01:0850th in the world. But you have somebody like Khanna, who is 61 in the world. So considering
01:18that, Qatar should have played better than that. But the thing is, Qatar has never been
01:22on this big stage and if you look at their previous game, you could see it amounted to
01:28something like a stage fright. Today wasn't any better either. So I think they still have
01:33a long way to go and they need to be exposed to playing these big teams more often to get
01:41over this fear factor. You're absolutely right, Shyam. But Nick, did you expect just a little
01:46bit more from them being the host nation, having the support of the nation, everybody
01:50was there willing them on. We know how passionate the fans are for their football team. Did
01:55you think that with just a bit more effort, maybe desire, a bit more passion that they
02:00could have maybe picked up a point somewhere and then got into the last group game with
02:04the possibility of still making it through?
02:07Yeah, fair point, Imran. I agree with you there. I didn't quite feel the passion of
02:15the typical home nation. Let's celebrate that they did score a goal and that was well
02:20received and I think they're unlucky not to get a penalty. It looked more of a penalty
02:25than the Ronaldo one, but that's for another time to discuss. But Qatar, a little bit disappointing
02:31and out already, crumbs. Is it six days in? Five days in and they're out already. But
02:37they've been good hosts, I think, but a shame that they're out.
02:42Yeah, it is a shame. When the host nation goes out this early, you kind of feel that
02:46the tournament might start to dip, but you know, there's still plenty of good teams still
02:50in there and well, there might not be because with the way the tournament started so far
02:55with Germany losing and Argentina losing, who knows? I mean, we could be seeing some
02:59more big teams going out, but unlucky to Qatar, they tried their best. It just wasn't to be
03:04better luck next time for them. Earlier though, earlier in the day, Iran played against Wales.
03:10Now, as we know, Iran started off their tournament against England and they were heavily beaten
03:146-2 by Gareth Southgate's men. Today, they came back and well, it took them until injury
03:21time to break the deadlock and it happened because Wales lost their goalkeeper, Hennessy,
03:25following a terrible foul. He just mistimed, he ran out, tried to clearing a ball and he
03:30chopped down. I think it was Tarimi for Iran. He was shown a red card, but it took charm.
03:36It took Iran until the 98th minute to break that deadlock. They did deserve it and then
03:41they got their second goal. But overall, do you think, I think they did deserve it. They
03:45were the better team, but how do you think they got on today?
03:49I think they were far better than the route against England. Not just the fact that they
03:54were goalless till the injury time, but the fact that Wales never turned up for the match
04:03seriously. Because Aaron Rante and the Italian man, Gareth Southgate, didn't show up for
04:12the match seriously. So, these are players who should actually spearhead Wales' challenge.
04:17When they don't lead the team, this is precisely what happens. I mean, the rest of the team
04:22is unable to lift themselves up. And I think, on that account, Iran fully deserved the victory
04:29because that first goal was a rocket, really. And there was hardly any gap there. I don't
04:36know how he found the space. And it came like a bullet. And he got the goalkeeper by surprise.
04:45And soon enough, there is no difference between 1-0 and 2-0 in injury time. Simply because
04:53you just go in search of the equaliser, which is why the second goal fell as well. But I
04:58think, all in all, Iran thoroughly deserved the victory.
05:02Yeah, they did. Nick, we saw them in their first game against England. And they looked,
05:09let's be honest, they looked terrible. I mean, they were heavily beaten. But they did show that
05:13they have got some attacking strengths in them. They got two goals back against England that day.
05:19But today, they've done well. They held on. Like Shyam says, Wales were quite disappointing.
05:23Nothing really from the two main players, Bale and Ramsey. But now, suddenly, Iran are looking
05:29quite good, aren't they? I mean, do you think they could get out of the group?
05:33Yeah, I was impressed with their energy, fitness. It's tough to, you know, come back from a 6-2 loss
05:40mentally. You know, the manager and the team must have really turned them around and gave them a
05:47positive outlook. But I just felt as though Wales ran out of ideas. They were always on the back
05:54foot. We always expected Iran to score. Joe Allen, we've been waiting for him. You know,
06:00very poor clearance from Joe Allen that led to the first goal and the second goal, as Shyam said,
06:06didn't really matter. But I was impressed with the high energy of Iran. And, you know, fingers
06:11crossed, they can move on. Let's bring on the next game. Well, they could move on. But Wales,
06:19because of that one draw against the US in their first game, got them that one valuable point.
06:24It's their first World Cup in 64 years, and they're not quite out of it just yet. So they
06:28still have an outside chance if they win their final game against England. And if then, I think
06:34Iran have to lose against the US, or there has to be a draw there or something. But mathematically,
06:39Wales have still got an outside chance. So they'll be hoping that they can sneak in there somehow.
06:44But you're right, they were off form today, and Iran deserve the points. All right, in the third
06:48game, the Netherlands against Ecuador just finished 1-1. It was a frantic 1-1 draw. It was
06:54a really good game. The Netherlands took the lead with the quickest goal of the World Cup so far
06:59from Gapko. He smashed one in into the top corner. But then in the second half, it was that man
07:04again, Enner Valencia. He scored two against Qatar. He was on the score sheet again. He drew
07:09the Ecuadorians' level. But then Shyam, worryingly, he was stretched off today. Now, he's the top
07:14goalscorer in the tournament so far. He's got three goals. And he's been looking very lively.
07:19He's had two really good games so far. If he's ruled out for maybe the next game or the rest
07:24of the tournament, how badly do you think Ecuador will miss Enner Valencia? I know very badly. I
07:30think, see, one thing, he's the talisman there. And if you look at the three goals, he's scored
07:36three goals already in the tournament, which means out of the four goals, I mean, out of the three
07:42goals, I think, yeah. All the three goals in this tournament scored by Ecuador came from the
07:50boots of Enner Valencia. So, which means, they will miss him very, very badly. So, I think it's a
07:57shame that he doesn't play in the next match. But I'm still hopeful. I hope the injury is not too
08:03bad. If you remember the last match, he was substituted very early. And he had a huge
08:10high spike around his knee. So, I hope it's something like that and he comes back to play
08:16the next game. Because on the strength of today's performance, Ecuador deserves to be
08:23in the next stage, the round of 16. Guys, speaking of injuries there, as Shaham rightly mentioned,
08:30Neymar is out for the next two games now. He picked up a terrible injury against Serbia.
08:35There was a picture of his ankle. It's swollen about there. And he's definitely ruled out of
08:40the next two games. But they've got Richarlison there, Nick, who scored two lovely goals. Well,
08:47one lovely goal, the overhead kick and a striker's finish for the first one. But Nick, do you think
08:53Brazil could be missing Neymar if he's out for those two games? They've got so many attackers.
08:58I mean, they surely won't miss Neymar. No, and the guys behind the scenes with
09:04the magic sponge. I trick down the stairs occasionally and it looks like a balloon in
09:09my right ankle. So, they're athletes. They're used to it. The few injections, the magic sponge,
09:16you know, they can turn them around and roll them out onto the pitch. So, I think I've no
09:23worries of Brazil and the strength and depth of their squad. And let's hope Neymar's back as
09:29soon as he can be. Yeah, let's hope for the sake of the tournament. We don't want to lose any more
09:34players. We've lost so many in the build-up of the World Cup because of, you know, the league's
09:38trying to fit in so many games. The congestion has caused injuries all over the place. So,
09:43hopefully, Neymar's back and raring to go. Tomorrow, we have four games. Let's have a
09:47quick preview of them. We've got Poland playing against Saudi Arabia. Now, as we all know,
09:53Saudi Arabians pulled off the biggest shock of all time in the World Cup. I think that's fair to say
09:58by beating much fancied Argentina 2-1. Sharm, they're facing Poland tomorrow who had a, you
10:04know, they were held to a nil-nil draw against Mexico in their first game. Lewandowski missed
10:08the penalty. They could have had a one-nil win. How do you think now, considering, you know,
10:13on the high that the Saudis must be on, they must be on cloud nine. They probably believe,
10:17you know, they can put two or three past Poland, don't you think? I think you could see another
10:24upset tomorrow and I think Saudi Arabia could win simply because they are, the momentum is with
10:30them. They have self-belief and not just that, Poland has not been great in the last match.
10:37So, if you look at that and there's every chance of Saudi Arabia pulling off another upset win.
10:46Nick, can you see another upset? I can. Like Sharm says, I also think they can.
10:49The way they played, I mean, if you just look at that performance against Argentina,
10:53if they can do that, if they play 50% to that against Poland, I think they're good enough for
10:58a win there. How do you think they'll get on tomorrow? Yeah, I think as long as they're
11:02positive, go for it. Let's hope the management doesn't say, let's go for a draw to get through.
11:07If they keep their natural play like they did in the first match, I think they'll be fine. But
11:14you never know behind the scenes what will happen. But stay positive, go for it. I think
11:20Saudi are on for a great run and even more than they've had so far.
11:25I think I agree with that. I can see them coming out of the group. But the other game,
11:29Argentina now against Mexico. And the Argentinian players are already saying, Sharm, that the game
11:35against Mexico is their World Cup final because they just cannot afford to lose this. We all know
11:40it's going to be Messi's last World Cup, he's 35, he's not turning up anymore for the next one.
11:45For the sake of Messi alone, they're going to have to put in a proper performance because
11:50as good as Saudi Arabia were, Argentina were quite poor. How do you think they'll do tomorrow
11:55against Mexico, Sharm? I think they'll be fine because this is a do or die battle for them. If
12:01they lose, they lose. Or if they draw, they're pretty much out of the tournament. So like you
12:07said, this is pretty much a final for them. So I believe they have it in them to pull their socks
12:14and come back with the performance to beat Mexico. But having said that, Mexico are no
12:19pushovers. They are a bunch of terriers. They can run down all day long. So we are in for a
12:25good match tomorrow. The other two games are Tunisia against Australia. But the other one
12:30that we're going to just briefly talk about is France against Denmark. Now, Nick, France have
12:35played Denmark twice this year in the Nations League, and they've lost twice against them,
12:392-0 both times. You know, Denmark can't know pushovers. How do you see this one going tomorrow?
12:45Quite even, like you said. Nations Cup, let's put that to the side, as England proved as well.
12:52This is the World Cup, the big one. I think France-Denmark looks like a draw to me. It's
12:58pretty evenly matched, in my opinion. Sharm, France were looking really good against
13:02Australia in their first game. They absolutely destroyed them, even though they conceded the
13:06first goal. But with the quality that they've got, Mbappé, Giroud, Rabiot, the list goes on.
13:14Do you think it'll be a tough game for them tomorrow against the Danes?
13:18It will be a tough game, but I believe that France have enough quality in them to
13:26grab three points there. It's looking like a 2-0 win for me.
13:322-0 win, right. I think I can see a similar result. I think France are going to be just a bit too good
13:38for the Danes. Cagey game, I think, but probably Mbappé is going to get back onto the score sheet.
13:43Right, that's all from us for tonight. We'll be back tomorrow to see how those four matches
13:47get on. In the meantime, head to gulfnews.com for all the latest news and reviews, and check us out
13:52on all our social media channels. That's all from the guys, and we will see you all again tomorrow
13:56night. Good night.