Well, finally. Finally! Lebanon’s national football team has done it. They finally did something that many thought could never happen. No, Lebanon did not qualify for the 2014 World Cup but they did earn the chance to finally qualify for the World Cup. After the final whistle blew in Abu Dhabi, Lebanon celebrated an unprecedented achievement by qualifying to the fourth and final round of Asian World Cup 2014 qualifiers. Their achievement came after a defeat but the players and the fans were not going to let it hamper their spirits. They finally made it to the final hurdle.
Last week‘s 4-2 defeat to the UAE did sting a bit in terms of celebrating a great day. It felt a bit sheepish to really celebrate after a disappointing defeat. However, I will gladly take it. They earned their way to the final round thanks to a great and memorable home win against one of the giants of Asian football, South Korea. South Korea ensured Lebanon’s passage to the final round by defeating Kuwait 2-0. It was a must win for South Korea or else they could have been the ones missing out if both Kuwait and Lebanon won. Oddly enough, it was South Korea that was part of Lebanon’s and my first ever Asian World Cup qualifiers.
1994 was the first time I ever got to enjoy World Cup qualifiers. I was a small kid back in Saudi Arabia to know what the World Cup was back in 1986 and my family moved to Lebanon after Maradona hoisted the World Cup trophy that same summer. I did get to catch Holland win Euro 88 which left a lasting impression and many years of heart ache and disappointments. Unfortunately, an ugly civil war made the qualifiers for the 1990 World Cup irrelevant and I missed out on the World Cup when I moved to the US temporarily. I don’t even recall who was televising the games back then but I believe I saw a video rip of the Brazil Argentina match that was televised by TNT. However, the 1994 World Cup and its qualifiers were different and forever special for me.
My family decided to move back to Lebanon after the civil war had finally ended in the early 90’s. So it was inevitable that I was going to witness the craze called World Cup football. What I didn’t know that it would also be the country’s first ever World Cup qualifying event too. Lebanon was only 50 years old when the qualifiers took place back in 1993. I was only a young teen back then and FIFA decided to have a group of five countries, Lebanon, South Korea, Bahrain, India and Hong Kong, play their qualifiers in only two of those countries; Lebanon and South Korea. Lebanon got to host the first round of qualifiers in Beirut.
I wish I could tell you that I was there or that I remember those games. I wish! Sadly, I missed three of the four games that were played from May 7 to May 15 because they occurred during the school days. Unlike last week’s game, our country did not shut down the schools back then. It was an afternoon game and the venue was in Beirut’s Berj Hammoud stadium which was not set up for night games. Quite frankly, I can’t recall any Lebanese league matches held in the evening back then either. What II do recall was waiting forever to get off the school bus to know what happened in the opener between Lebanon and India. I was gutted when I heard that Lebanon were up 1-0 at the half and then were leading 2-0 in the second half before squandering that two goal lead for a 2-2 draw. Their next game against Hong Kong fell on a weekend and I don’t remember much except that it ended in another 2-2 draw. Sadly, the other two games fell on school days so I missed Lebanon losing 1-0 to South Korea and the scoreless draw against Bahrain their final home game.
Sadly, the World Cup fever that gripped the country fizzled after those first two games. Although it was a historic event, we all knew that this team was not going to be advancing and low and behold, their performances the next month saw Lebanon finish third in their group and get eliminated from the World Cup qualifiers. However, those second round of games were remarkable since it was Lebanon’s first ever World Cup qualifiers victories. Of course, the games were in South Korea and we missed most of those games because of the time zone difference. What I do remember is that South Korea ended up making it to the World Cup the following summer. That left a lasting impression on me. A country that played in Lebanon ended up making it all the way to USA for the 1994 World Cup. Deep down, I thought to myself that that could have been Lebanon.
I was an Ansar fan back then and they were basically the Manchester United of the Lebanese league back then and were managed by Adnan Al-Sharkey who had players like Fadi Aloush, Jamal Taha, Abdel-Fattah Chehab, Mohammad Messelmani, Ali Fakih and others that their names escape me at the moment, were selected for the national team. The other players I remember playing for Lebanon back then were captain Hassan Ayoub, Wael Nazha, Nazih Nahle and I am sure there had to be a few Lebanese Armenians on the team.
Unfortunately, I would miss the next round of qualifiers for the 1998 World Cup because my family decided to move back to the US for good. We didn’t have satellite dish coverage of the Arab world back then so I missed out on Lebanon being grouped with Kuwait and Singapore. That was it. 3 teams in a group and Lebanon finished second with Kuwait advancing as group winners. Lebanon drew 1-1 with Singapore before losing both games against Kuwait. Lebanon would win their final encounter against Singapore 2-1 but would again crash out of the qualifiers without gaining a single victory on home soil. I was disappointed by how soon Lebanon’s exit was. Four matches and they were done.
Afterwards though, I would be able to follow Lebanon as we entered the new millennium. By then, my folks had a dish that allowed me to follow Lebanon on LBCI and I got to see them host the 2000 Asian Cup. Sadly, that tournament did not see Lebanon win a game under then manager Josip Skoblar. However, the team showed flashes of potential after they came back from being two goals down to tie Iraq with Moussa Hojeij scoring a great free kick. The days of Aloush and Taha were gone but the new generation of Hojeij, Haytham Zein and a young Roda Antar set the stage for an impressive and heart breaking 2002 World Cup qualifiers.
Skoblar was out as the manager and a German manager whom I had never heard of before, Theo Bücker, took over. The 2002 qualifiers group saw Lebanon grouped with Pakistan, Thailand and Sri Lanka. Again, there was optimism that this could be the year that Lebanon would advance to the final round of qualifiers. All they had to do was finish ahead of these three countries. Just like the 1994 qualifiers, Lebanon hosted the first round of games while Thailand hosted the second round. Under Bücker, Lebanon did not just win, they destroyed! Lebanon kicked off their qualifiers with their first ever win on home soil by thrashing Pakistan 6-0. That was a strange result that the people were not familiar with. We then realized that this was no fluke when they followed it up with a 4-0 win against Sri Lanka. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing. 10 goals in 2 games? The final home game was the pivotal clash against Thailand. Both teams were unbeaten but Lebanon had the upper hand because of their better goal differential.
Lebanon had the dream start when they were ahead after nine minutes courtesy of an own goal. Unfortunately, Lebanon’s dream start ended in nightmarish fashion as Thailand scored two goals in the first half in what turned out to be the only goals of the game. Thailand won and now had a three point gap atop of the standings. Lebanon was down but not out as they destroyed Pakistan 8-1 and Sri Lanka 5-0 to set up the do or die match against Thailand. Thailand still maintained their three point lead but Lebanon’s huge goal differential meant that Thailand would get eliminated if Lebanon defeated them which would mean both teams would finish atop of the group standings. Once again, Lebanon had the dream start when they took the lead in the first half after 35 minutes and managed to hold on to it till the 73rd minute. Unfortunately, their night would come crashing down after Thailand scored two goals in a four minute span. Lebanon pulled one back three minutes from time but they could not find the go ahead goal. 2-2 was the final score and Lebanon’s loss to Thailand in Lebanon was the difference. I never got over that draw that felt like a defeat. They were so close and yet, the final round was so far away.
Four years later, Lebanon would finish second yet again, to South Korea in a group with Vietnam and Maldives. Bücker was gone by then and the team fell short again thanks to a loss and draw in their encounters against South Korea. Unfortunately, I was in law school back then and didn’t have access to the dish to watch my countrymen try to qualify and the internet streaming back then was not as available as it is now. Fortunately, the 2010 World Cup qualifiers would usher in a new change that would allow teams that finish second to finally advance to the final round along with the group leaders. Where was this rule before? Finally, Lebanon has a chance, right? Wrong!
Lebanon first had to get by India in the first round of qualification under another new manager and did so after winning 4-1 in Lebanon before drawing away 2-2. Lebanon were then grouped with Saudi Arabia, Uzbekistan, and Singapore. Odds looked good that they could finish second, right? Much to everyone’s dismay, not only did they not finish second; they finished dead last by losing all of their group matches. That heart breaking draw against Thailand was nothing more than a distant memory as their chances of ever advancing looked bleak. Fortunately, I did not get to watch the games for the same reasons as 2006. I didn’t have dish and although live internet streams had come a long way, Lebanese games were not even a possibility back then.
The 2014 World Cup qualifiers presented Lebanon with another chance at either accomplishing the near impossible or giving us another case of disappointment. The World Cup qualifiers kicked off back in July with Lebanon managed by another manager and were up against Bangladesh in the second round of qualifiers. They won their home leg 4-0 before suffering a shocking 2-0 loss away but the damage in the first leg was enough to send them on their way to another group stage. The group would see them grouped with two teams that finished ahead of them in the 1994 and 1998 group stage; South Korea and Kuwait. UAE were the other team in Lebanon’s group. Lebanon somehow had played friendlies against Kuwait and UAE prior to these qualifiers and they were disasters. UAE destroyed Lebanon 6-2 which was memorable for the silly penalty scored by an UAE player who was somehow booked for it, and a mass brawl broke out between the Lebanese and Kuwaiti teams that required soldiers firing shots in the air to bring it to an end to a 6-0 defeat. Hardly the way to get your hopes up!
Lebanese celebrating their countries' greatest ever victory
However, the good news was that Bücker was back. The bad news was that he had a lot of work to do after South Korea destroyed Lebanon 6-0 in the first qualifier match of the group stages. Bücker though got the best of his team with the return of veteran Antar along with the sensational Hassan Maatouk. Lebanon won its first home qualifier by defeating UAE 3-1 in Lebanon and then battled Kuwait to a 2-2 draw at home with Kuwait getting an own goal near the end. Fortunately, Lebanon won the return leg 1-0 and had a crucial game against South Korea coming up on home soil. In what was one of the biggest upsets and victories in Lebanese football history, Lebanon defeated South Korea 2-1. It was a great result which allowed them to climb to second place in the group with Kuwait behind them and South Korea ahead of them. Lebanon now controlled their destiny. They benefitted from the fact that South Korea and Kuwait were playing each other in South Korea. All Lebanon had to do was win or draw away against UAE and they would qualify.
Lebanon pulls off an amazing upset by defeating South Korea
Well, Lebanon had to go ahead and do it the Lebanese way and lose 4-2 to UAE side that had lost its previous five qualifiers. Bücker made what I considered a grave mistake when he benched starting keeper Ziad El Samad who started the previous five qualifiers for Abbas Hassan who had an overall awful performance. Supposedly, Hassan, who is Swedish Lebanese, was picked because he plays in the Swedish league. If true, then that was a pretty stupid reason to bench El Samad. Fortunately, South Korea defeated Kuwait 2-0 to clinch first place and Lebanon ended up finishing in second place to finally qualify to the fourth and final round of the World Cup qualifiers.
Celebration time even in UAE
So what’s next for Lebanon? The draw for the two groups of the fourth round of qualifiers will be held tomorrow or later on today for those across the Atlantic. Lebanon’s opponents will be Australia, South Korea, Japan, Iran, Uzbekistan, Iraq, Jordan, Qatar, and Oman. According to FIFA, the ten teams will be drawn into two round-robin, home-and-away groups of five teams each. The matches will likely take place between 3 June 2012 and 18 June 2013. The two group winners and two group runners-up qualify for the 2014 FIFA World Cup. The third-place teams from each group advance to Round 5 where the teams will play one home-and-away play-off. The matches will likely be played between 6 and 10 September 2013. The Round 5 winner advances to the intercontinental play-off that will be played between the Round 5 Winner of Asia and the fifth placed team of South America.
Will Lebanon manage to qualify automatically to the World Cup as either group winners or runners-up? Will they have to go through a home and away playoff against a team from South America? Or is this the end of the road for Lebanon? Anything is possible and here’s to another memorable step from Lebanon.
No comments:
Post a Comment