Riyadh: Qatar deserved to qualify for the Gulf Cup semi-finals despite three underwhelming group stage draws, according to The Maroons coach Djamel Belmadi.
The 1992 and 2004 champions followed-up opening ties with hosts Saudi Arabia 1-1 and Yemen 0-0, with another goalless draw against Bahrain at the Prince Faisal Bin Fahd Stadium here on Wednesday.
Three points was just enough to scrape Qatar through as runners-up in Group A behind Saudi who topped the group on seven points after following up a 3-0 win over Bahrain with a 1-0 win over Yemen.
Meanwhile, Bahrain and Yemen, who had earlier drawn a blank in their opener, both slipped out of the competition on two points.
Qatar had a goal ruled offside in the first quarter against Bahrain and had plenty of opportunities to score in an end-to-end contest but Bahrain came back stronger after the break and could have nicked a late winner.
Despite the toothless display, Belmadi defended his squad and backed them to change gear in the semi-final, where they will face the winner of Group B on Sunday.
“As you can see we played to win, we didn’t stay behind the ball, so when people question if we deserve to qualify [with three draws] I think it’s unfair,” he said. “We tried in these three games to play and create and I think we deserve to go through with Saudi to the second round.
“In the last three games we created a lot of chances but our problem is we haven’t scored. If we had scored it would have been a lot different. The most important thing is that we have created chances, not a little but a lot. I hope the day we score will be soon, and in our next game. I’m still confident in my players. It’s about time that result will come.”
Asked if he was worried about Qatar’s form in front of goal, Belmadi replied: “If you had followed our form before the tournament you will see we’ve been working well with nine goals in three matches, before that there were three or four friendlies where we didn’t score much, so I’m not worried about the future. We will perform and score goals.”