Three reasons behind Al Zawraa's draw against Qatar SC

The positive draw ended with a score of 1-1 between Al Zawraa and their hosts Qatar SC in the match held this evening, Tuesday, at the Suhaim Bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, as part of the first round of the Gulf Club Champions League. Each team earned a single point in their regional journey after a match in which the seabirds were very close to snatching the win.

Despite an early lead that gave the Iraqi team an advantage, they failed to maintain their lead and ended up with just one point, which could cost them dearly in the complex qualification calculations. The details of the three reasons that led to this setback are as follows:

Al Zawraa's back line is facing a serious and complex problem in depth and lack of cover, which is not just a result of the match in Doha, but rather the same worrying crisis that clearly emerged in the previous encounter against Duhok in the Iraq Stars League, where the team conceded 3 goals that led to a painful defeat.

The same blunder occurred in Doha with the same scenario, failing to clear the ball and a delay in marking allowed the hosts to score an equalizer in the dying moments in the 50th minute of added time through Johan Boly. This goal reveals that the issue has not yet been addressed.

As soon as the first goal was scored in the 20th minute by Mohamed Sherif after following up on a penalty missed by Hassan Abdul Karim "Quqia", Al Zawraa's players shrank back towards their defensive areas and handed over full control to Qatar SC.

The negative decline continued throughout the second half, with the Qatari team being the better and more dangerous side in terms of possession. This raises questions, as Qatar SC is going through extremely difficult administrative circumstances, having replaced and dismissed their coach just 24 hours before facing the seabirds. Nevertheless, they were the ones to take the initiative, while Al Zawraa settled for defending.

Aside from the tactical impotence and slow attacking transition in the second half, where the team lacked a playmaker capable of exploiting the spaces in Qatar SC's advanced defense, we did not see any noteworthy real chances after the opening goal, until a VAR decision overturned a penalty for Qatar SC in the 86th minute, saving Al Zawraa from a certain defeat.

This point imposes on coach Bassem Qassem the need for swift and urgent action to address the clear defensive flaws in the team's depth, restore confidence to the front line, and correct the philosophy of retreating after taking the lead, before returning to the upcoming local and Gulf competitions to ensure a return to winning ways and avoid repeating the scenario in Doha.