On the afternoon of 16th, in the 2019 America’s Cup group competition held at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, Qatar, the new Asian Cup champion invited to participate in America’s Cup for the first time, made a big counterattack with two goals behind, with 2:2 draw on the Paraguay team.
Xinhua News Agency, Rio de Janeiro, June 16 (reporter Gong Ruohan, Zhou Xingzhu) on the afternoon of 16th, in the 2019 America Cup group match held at Maracana Stadium in Rio de Janeiro, qatar, the champion of the new Asian Cup, who was invited to participate in the America’s Cup for the first time, made a major counterattack with two goals behind, drawing the Paraguay team at 2:2.
In the first half, only 4 minutes after the opening, Paraguay striker Cardoso penalty kick broke the door and helped Paraguay lead by 1:0. Qatar, which won the Asian Cup in February this year, then launched several powerful offensive, but failed to break the door and had to end the first half with a goal disadvantage.
Not long after the opening of the second half, Cardoso of Paraguay scored another goal. However, after communicating with VAR (video assistant referee), the referee decided that some people in Paraguay had been in the offside position and the goal was invalid. In the 56th minute, the substitute’s Paraguay midfield delis Gonsales expanded the score to 2:0 with a beautiful long shot of YILI.
In the 68th minute, Qatar striker A Ali, who played a brilliant role in the Asian Cup, broke the door and pulled back a goal. Nine minutes later, Qatar midfielder buh Hu got a single shot. His shot was pounced by the Paraguay goalkeeper and then he jumped up high and flew to goal. The Paraguay players who chased back failed to rescue the header. Finally, the two sides shook hands at 2:2 to make peace.
After the game, the head coach of Qatar, Sands, said that the whole game was very exciting. He said: “The Qatar Team didn’t pay enough attention at the beginning, so the beginning of the first half was not good, which is also an aspect that needs to be improved in the subsequent games. The Paraguay team is well-trained and has a high level. It is very strong once playing. Fortunately, later we were very responsive, playing better and better, controlling the ball more, scoring more chances, and finally playing a draw.”
This is the first time Qatar has been invited to participate in the America’s Cup. In the face of the match with Columbia on June 19, Sands said that Columbia was very strong and exposed few weaknesses. He defeated Argentina in the last match. We don’t have much time. We must try our best to prepare and fight in the best state.
Berizo, the coach of the Paraguay team, said that the draw was fair and reasonable, and both teams showed excellent levels. He said: “We got out of control halfway through the game. The opponent attacked very fast. Unfortunately, we couldn’t maintain our advantage until the end. I hope we can learn from experience in the future games, win.”
The next game of Paraguay will be against Argentina on June 19.