Qatar's victory over UAE leads to bottles and sandals thrown towards the players

Qatar raced through to the final of the 2019 Asian Cup, beating host country UAE 4-0. Qatar will now face Japan in their first ever final on Friday.

However, the result was overshadowed by what happened after the match. For the last couple of years, Qatar has faced huge political tensions with several of its neighbours, including the UAE, as many deem Qatar to be a supporter of terrorism. 

This led to Qatar's national anthem being booed pre-kickoff. If the result wasn't damaging enough for the home side, they then threw bottles and sandals during the game as the Qatar side celebrated their four goals. 

Scorer of Qatar's third goal, Salem- Al-Hajri, was one of the players to be struck on the head by a flying bottle.

 

The Qatari players having shoes thrown at them after scoring their 2nd goal against UAE..... pic.twitter.com/YBtGE3Pe4y

— Football Chants (@FootyFansChants) January 29, 2019

 

In the post-match press conference, Qatar's Spanish head coach Felix Sanchez discussed the game's events: "The players were aware there was going to be a lot of pressure but they managed their emotions quite well. I'm very proud of them."

Perhaps the early booing of Qatar's national anthem drove the victorious away side to victory, nevertheless, they certainly will be fired up for the final vs four-time winners Japan. 

Japan overcame Iran on Monday (3-0) with all three goals coming from players playing in Germany. Werder Bremen midfielder Yuya Osako scored twice whilst Hannover forward Genki Haraguchi scored in injury time, setting up Friday's exciting clash.

8 - Qatar's Almoez Ali has scored eight goals at the 2019 Asian Cup; equalling the record for the most goals by a player in a single Asian Cup tournament, held by Iran's Ali Daei in 1996 (8). Great. #AsianCup2019 pic.twitter.com/3tDhphFfH1

— OptaJoe (@OptaJoe) January 29, 2019

Lead image credit - Fars News Agency on Wikipedia Commons