(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Qatar's goal drought continued yesterday when they were beaten 2-0 by Peru in an international friendly at Lekhwiya Stadium.
Just a week after their goalless draw against Morocco in Casablanca, Qatar showed pace in their runs in the entertaining clash but Peru prevailed after a couple of late strikes by Alexander Callens (84) and captain Jose Guerrero (86).
It was Qatar's fourth game without a win after a 0-0 draw against Morocco after having shared the spoils with Indonesia and Macedonia in friendlies played since March.
Qatar's Hassan Al Haydos said: "We will improve in the coming games. We have worked hard in recent weeks. We couldn't score today. We had the chances. No, we didn't have any coordination problems. We have played well as a team and we can do it again in the next games."
Peru goalkeeper George Forsyth said: "First of all, thanks for having us. It was a good match. You guys played well. But luckily we scored a couple of late goals. There was big pressure on us, especially in the second half. Luckily we defended well and didn't concede any goals."
In third minute, a spirited run by Qatar's prolific striker Khalfan Ibrahim allowed team-mate Mohamed Musa to launch a fierce drive from the edge of Peru box but the ball went close to the goalpost without causing any damage to the visitors.
In the 7th minute, Peru captain Guerrero was brought down by Qatar's Khaled Muftah inside the Qatar box but the referee refused to award a penalty causing visible unease on the Peru bench.
A minute later, Peru's Andre Carrilo unleashed a powerful shot - some 25 yards away from the goalline - but the ball sailed above Qatar goalkeeper Qasem Burhan, who was sluggish in the first half.
In the 22nd minute, Peru's Jean Deza produced a vicious tackle on Qatar substitute Ismael Mohammed resulting in a yellow card for the Peruvian.
Some 10 minutes later, Qatar striker Ibrahim nearly pulled off a spectacular goal but his angled shot from the edge of the box beat the Peruvian goalkeeper and slipped past the goalpost.
Mohammed - who came in an early substitute - hoodwinked his marker near the corner flagpost and slipped in a perfect ball to Ibrahim who fired at the goal but missed his target narrowly.
In another slick home move, Ibrahim spotted Bualem Khoukhi near the spot kick but the latter failed to connect on a near-perfect pass from the right flank in the 42nd minute.
A minute from the first-half whistle, Qatar's Almahdy Ali produced a snap-header on a Al Haydos free-kick but the ball was efficiently pouched by Peru goalkeeper Forsyth.
Eight minutes into the second half, luck deserted Qatar again when Mohammed produced a snap-header with his back to the Peru goal. The ball lobbed and bounced back after smashing into the Peru crossbar with the goalkeeper completely beaten by the flight of the header.
Qatar's Abdul Aziz Hatem picked up the lose ball but his shot was punched away by goalkeeper Forsyth who had by then recovered after bad positioning on the snap-header by Mohammed.
In the 66th minute, Guerrero wasted a decent chance to score when he hoodwinked a Qatari defender and charged into the home team's box. With only the goalkeeper to beat, Guerrero fired at Saad Al Sheeb who deflected the ball with a timely dive to his left.
Seconds later, Guerrero produced a snap-header which was parried away with one hand by goalkeeper Al Sheeb.
In the 84th minute, Callens lunged forward to head the ball home after Qatar goalkeeper Al Sheeb fumbled on a header by Guerrero. The ball trickled into the net despite Abdulrahman Abkar's attempt to block Callens.
Four minutes from time Guerreo hoodwinked defenders Abkar and Ali to slip a neat ball past a diving Al Sheeb for his side's second goal.
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