Qatar throws midfielder out of Asian Cup squad
By DPA, IANSWednesday, January 19, 2011
DOHA - Qatar team manager Abdulrahman Al Mahmoud has confirmed that midfielder Hussein Yasser had been thrown out of the squad.
The midfielder, whose parents are Egyptian and who is the only player in the squad not playing in Qatar, left the team Tuesday, apparently because he was angry that he had been replaced on the hour in the opening game against Uzbekistan by Khalfan Ibrahim.
Yasser, who plays his club football for Zamalek in Egypt, was an unused substitute in Qatar’s two other matches in the group phase.
Al Mahmoud was quoted on the Qatar football association website as saying that he was removed from the team “because his response was not up to the expectations and he was absent from some training sessions”.
“If he was angry because he was sitting on the bench then he should have done his best to prove that he should play.”
“The squad has 23 players and that means that the other 12 players who don’t play should be ready to play at any moment.”
Qatar finished second in Group A behind Uzbekistan and will meet Japan in the quarter-finals Friday.
