Goalkeeper Meshaal Barsham was the hero for the 2019 champions after a 1-1 draw at Al Bayt Stadium on Saturday, the Al Sadd man saving three penalties after 120 minutes of action could not separate the two teams.
“Our goal is to always win, one match after the other and we’ve given everything we’ve got in this short period,” said Lopez. “We believe reaching the semi-final is an achievement, but the mission is not accomplished yet.
“We still have two matches and we want to give everything we can in these two matches, but we’ll take it one match at a time.”
Hassan Al Haydos’ ۲۷th minute goal had put the Qataris in front, but that effort – which went in off the palms of goalkeeper Utkir Yusupov – was cancelled out by Odiljon Hamrobekov 13 minutes into second half as Uzbekistan deservedly pulled level.
However, with neither side able to claim a winner, the quarter-final was decided on spot-kicks, with Qatar prevailing.
“We studied the Uzbekistan team well and we knew they were a tough opponent,” said Lopez.
“We knew their strengths and weaknesses, for example we know they have two players who are very powerful and dangerous in attack so we tried to mitigate the threat represented by these players in an attempt to neutralise them.”
“We gave our best and scored the first goal, then we got nervous and our level dropped. But in the end we knew how to handle this match and we came out victorious.”
Barsham’s three saves were the difference between the teams in the shoot-out, with the goalkeeper denying Rustamjon Ashurmatov, Zafarmurod Abdirakhmatov and Jaloliddin Masharipov to allow Pedro Correia to score the penalty that took Qatar through.
“First off, we need to recover after tonight’s match, to be physically ready,” said Barsham as he turned his attention to the upcoming semi-final against the Iranians. “The manager will give us everything we need to be ready as well.
“Since the beginning our goal has been defending the title, but we’re not thinking about that. It’s one match at a time. The atmosphere in the team is positive and this is what is making us united. We’re like a family.”
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