Lebanon almost makes history at Asian Cup, eliminated in last-minute defeat

DOHA — For a glorious 30 minutes, Lebanon was on the cusp of making history by qualifying, for the first time ever, in the last 16 in the Asian Cup. However, the dream was shattered in a matter of minutes, culminating in a thrilling and cruel twist for the Cedars, who ultimately finished at the bottom of their group with just one point.

Lebanon's journey further into the tournament was cut short despite two offside goals ruled out for Tajikistan by the painstaking precision of VAR. After Karim al-Zein was sent off with a red card in the 54th minute, shrinking Lebanon to 10 players, the team failed to maintain their lead — gained early on in the second half. A magnificent curved shot from outside the penalty area by Bassel Jradi had put Lebanon on track for a monumental advance into the knockout stages (1-0, 47th minute).

But playing nearly 40 minutes with a man down, Miodrag Radulovic's squad tried to withstand the Tajik onslaught as long as they could, but eventually capitulated. The Cedars' defenses first gave way at the 80th minute when Umarbeav deceived Mustapha Matar with a direct freekick (1-1), and then again during added time when Khamrokulov secured the win with a lobbing header (2-1, 90+2nd minute).

Despite a last attempt to rally and a near goal by Hilal al-Helwe in the final five minutes, the Cedars faced their second defeat in three matches, following a loss to Qatar (3-0) and a draw with China (0-0). And so, as some may have predicted, they were eliminated in the group stages, a repeat of their Asia Cup experiences in 2000 and 2019, to the great disappointment of the thousands of Lebanese supporters who filled the stands of the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium in Doha, and to our disappointment as well.

This article was originally published in French on L'Orient-Le Jour. English translation by Amelia Hankins.