Arabian Gulf Cup a chance for Qatar to banish World Cup embarrassment

The World Cup remains the tournament on everyone’s minds only weeks after Argentina’s glorious triumph over France in Doha.

But as the details continue to be discussed, one thing remains beyond debate: The host nation’s performance on the pitch was a massive anticlimax to 12 years of anticipation.

Now, the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup is providing Qatar with a chance to quickly get back on the horse after an embarrassing fall.

And the message from Al-Ennabi, or the Maroons, as the team is known, would seem to be that Qatar are here to remind the world that they are still champions of Asia.

But was their 2-0 Group B win over Kuwait the beginning of a new revolution for the Qatari national team ahead of upcoming challenges on the international front?

To make up for the World Cup failure, Basra 2023 could just well be the first step on the road to recovery for the Qataris who are set to host the 2023 AFC Asian Cup — initially scheduled to take place in China — at the end of the year, or potentially in early 2024.

Whatever the outcome of the 25th Arabian Gulf Cup, the future of the Qatari national team will be overseen by a new regime after the Felix Sanchez era came to an expected end following the World Cup debacle.

Looking back over the years, Sanchez had been with what was seen as the country’s golden generation since 2013 — first as coach of the U-19 team, then U-23s, and from 2017, the senior side as well.

The crowning glory came with the glorious 2019 AFC Asian Cup triumph in the UAE, but sadly that success could not be maintained all the way to the 2022 World Cup, where it seemed that Qatar had somewhat forgotten all the good habits and experience they picked up over the previous decade.

Qatar’s three losses to