After a bright start to the , where they picked up a maiden tournament point against Switzerland, Qatar came crashing back down to earth in their next outing. A 6-0 defeat at the hands of co-hosts Canada has left the nation bottom of the Group B standings, yet still far from being finished.
A win against Bosnia and Herzegovina in their section closer would see Qatar pocket four points and that is tracking towards being enough to secure a Round of 32 berth as one of the best third-placed teams.
While many nations may struggle to recover from such a heavy defeat, Qatar set about putting things right in the immediate aftermath, as defender Pedro Miguel exclusively told FIFA.
“When we first went back to the dressing room there was nothing really to say. But then the experienced players made sure that they took the lead and tried to push everybody, speaking individually to the other players," he said.
“The message then was clear, and that is we have one more game so we can still fight and continue to dream.”
Born in Portugal but a Qatar international since 2016, the 35-year-old defender has one been one of his nation’s most loyal football servants. Having now accrued a century of international caps, Pedro Miguel knows that this could be his last shot at the global finals and he is determined to right the wrongs from the Canada loss and propel Qatar into the knockout stage.
“Looking at that last game, a lot of things went wrong and in those kind of games we cannot make the mistakes that we did. After the [two] red cards, things got even more difficult. But this part of football, we have to learn from those mistakes and do our best to win this game and try to qualify.
“We know that we have a chance to qualify with four points, so that will be perfect. But first we have to fix our mistakes, make sure they don’t happen again and then get three points, that’s all that matters.”
If this is to be Pedro Miguel’s swansong, he will hold fond memories from a tournament that shows the power of the game to unite and bring together different cultures. Along with his Qatari allegiance and his Portuguese roots, the Al Sadd defender has Cabo Verdean blood flowing through veins, as he told FIFA.
“This World Cup is really emotional for me because I was born in Portugal and both my parents are from Cabo Verde. I lost my mother when I was 14 years old but my brothers, my friends and everyone else is so happy for what Cabo Verde has done at this tournament," he said.
“I'm so happy for them, I hope they can do more for the country because the people deserve that and it’s so nice to see my countries all playing in this World Cup.
“Now, for Qatar we didn’t do what we wanted in the last match but we have a point, we are still in it and still have a chance.”
Sources: FIFA Official
