Ener Valencia was the star man of the match for Ecuador on Sunday as they defeated host Qatar 2-0 in the opening game of the FIFA 2022 World Cup.
The Fernabache striker, who had his first goal ruled out due to offside scored in the 16th and 31st minutes to condemned an ‘Money bag’ host to a 2-0 defeat.
Qatar struggled in the game but we’re unable to create chances that could hand them an important message on the scoreline
Ecuado’s Enner Valencia has scored each of Ecuador’s last five goals at the FIFA World Cup.The record is held by Eusébio (Portugal 1966), Paolo Rossi (Italy 1982) and Oleg Salenko (Russia 1994) who scored six in a row of their nation. Centre.
A first half brace from Ener Valencia was all Ecuador needed to see off the host country, Qatar in the 2022 FIFA World Cup opening match on Sunday.
Ener Valencia who earlier had his first goal ruled offside early in the game later make history as the first scorer of the world cup when he converted a penalty in the 16th minutes.
While Ecuador dominance lasts in the first half, Valencia headed home his second goal of the day as he rose unchallenged to nod in Angelo Precidao’s cross in the 31st minutes.
Almoez Ali had a chance to reduce the deficit for Qatar in the stroke of the half time but failed to hit the right target with his head.
Coming back in to the second half, the Qataris who looked jittery would had their goalkeeper to thanked for pulling off a shot on target from Romario Ibarra in the 55th minutes.
With couple of changes, the hosts grew more confident in the game and had their closest of chances coming through Muhammad Muntari who fired some inches above the goalposts in the 86th minutes.
Records
Ecuado’s Enner Valencia has scored each of Ecuador’s last five goals at the FIFA World Cup.The record is held by Eusébio (Portugal 1966), Paolo Rossi (Italy 1982) and Oleg Salenko (Russia 1994) who scored six in a row of their nation. Centre.
With the World Cup entering its 22nd edition, Qatar became the first host country to lose their opening game. Before now, no host country has ever lost the opening match. Sixteen past host nations have won their matches while the other six, including South Africa in 2010 have recorded a draw.
- Infomat 247
