Lopetegui explains Qatar's changes against Yemen and stresses the focus on the next match

The Spanish coach of the Qatari national team, Julen Lopetegui, said that he made a number of changes in the team’s roster in the confrontation that brought them together with the Yemeni national team in the “Gulf 27” tournament, due to some players suffering from stress and exhaustion.

Lopetegui added in the press conference after the match, which they won 1-0: I made some changes because some players are suffering from stress and exhaustion, and until the day of the match I did not know who I could include, because the players are going through the recovery phase, but I always try to choose the best.

He continued: In football, you have to go step by step, and there are many things that happen, but I stress that you must focus from the beginning of the match, but this matter was not present today specifically in the first half, and in the second half we improved a lot by focusing on the importance of the match and its result to decide qualification.

He added: As for the next stage and the type of the next competitor, we will wait for the results and see what team we will face, and we will work to confront all teams with the same challenge and the same club.

Qatar snatched a difficult victory from its Yemeni competitor 1-0, within the matches of the second round (Group Two) of the 27th Gulf Cup tournament in Jeddah, making Al-Annabi the second qualifier to the semi-finals, after the Saudi team reached the same round following its recent victory against Oman.

The Qatari team began its tournament campaign with a 2-0 victory over Bahrain. Youssef Abdel Razzaq scored the only goal for the Qatari team in the 64th minute, after taking advantage of a cross pass that he put past the Yemeni goalkeeper. Qatar almost scored the second goal after the referee awarded a penalty kick that captain Akram Afif missed in the 70th minute.

The “Gulf 27” scorer race entered a remarkably competitive stage at an early stage, after 3 players succeeded in scoring braces during the first two rounds, but each brace came in a different context in terms of the result and the team’s position in the tournament.

Saudi Firas Al-Braikan imposed himself strongly against Oman, after opening the scoring early and then returning to add a second goal, contributing directly to Al-Akhdar’s 3-0 victory and clinching the qualification ticket to the semi-finals.

Also in the first group, Kuwaiti Yousef Nasser scored two goals against Iraq, but his brace was not enough to save his country from a 2-3 loss, after Iraq snatched the winning goal in stoppage time.

As for Emirati Nicolas Jimenez, he started the tournament in a strong attacking manner, after scoring two goals in the great victory over Yemen by 4-0.

Although the three players are equal in scoring, the difference in the status of their teams gives the scorers' race an additional dimension. Al-Buraikan is guaranteed to continue in the tournament with Saudi Arabia, while the chances of the rest of the competitors are linked to the ability of their teams to advance to the next rounds.

In short association tournaments, the scorers' race does not depend on individual effectiveness alone, but is also affected by the number of matches a player gets as his country's national team continues its journey.

As the end of the group stage approaches, the competition for top scorers seems open, waiting to see whether the early doubles will turn into an extended race until the final match.