Gold Cup: Qatar bow out with heads held high

Austin, Texas: Qatar’s run in the Concacaf Gold Cup was put to a halt following a bitter 0-1 defeat to the United States in the semifinal match in front of a sold-out audience of 20,500 at the Q2 Stadium in Austin, Texas, yesterday.

Qatar was, in many ways, the better team, creating more goal scoring opportunities, including a second-half missed penalty. The 2022 World Cup hosts probably deserved at least a goal or two, but such a breakthrough never materialised. The AFC Asian Cup champions were a threat early, with their first dangerous opportunity coming from a Hassan Al Haydos interception in the seventh minute. Qatar’s captain provided a filtering pass from the right to the left edge of the box, but Almoez Ali could not convert.