Qatar manager Felix Sanchez, praised the fans’ support during the 2-0 loss to Ecuador, even though many of them left long before the end of the game.
The Qataris’ home FIFA World Cup got off to the worst possible start on Sunday night. They gave up two goals to Enner Valencia in the first half and were pushed all over the field.
Officially, there were more than 57,000 people at the game at the Al Bayt Stadium. However, many fans had left before the second half started, and by the 80th minute, it was clear that the stadium was closer to being empty than to being full.
Even though a lot of Qatar fans left, the team’s manager Felix Sanchez was quick to thank them for their support, saying: “We felt backed and supported, and we hope that after the next game, people will be even prouder of us and keep backing us until the end of the tournament. People were very excited about this game, and the atmosphere was great.”
Qatar manager Felix Sanchez did, however, criticise his team’s performance that day, saying, “There’s no excuse, we want to congratulate our opponents, they deserved to win.
“There’s a lot that could be better. Maybe the stress and responsibility got the best of us. We didn’t start well. It really got off to a bad start.
“We knew [a loss] could happen, and sometimes the result is hard. We’ll try to learn from what happened today, and I’m sure that our next performance will make people happier”.
