Ecuador secured a place in the Copa America quarter-finals on Sunday after grinding out a 0-0 draw with Mexico.
'There is no time for rest. There is a plan and the project will not stop and is not linked to me alone. We will prepare for the Asian Cup.'
The home team froze under the weight of expectation and quickly went behind in Sunday's opener, losing 2-0 to Ecuador
"We are a small country, the smallest to host the World Cup. We prepared ourselves for the possibility of an early exit, but this does not mean the end of the project."
Valencia double gives Ecuador 2-0 halftime lead against hosts Qatar
Though many outsiders expect Qatar to be soundly drubbed in all three games, home fans know forwards Akram Afif and Almoez Ali have both talent and experience and pray they can penetrate an Ecuador team themselves struggling to score of late.
Qatar will be the first team since Italy in the second World Cup in 1934 to participate in the finals for the first time as a host without having previously qualified for the tournament.
Athletes were again left staring into empty space on the third day of the world athletics championships at Luzhniki Stadium where the lack of crowds has become as big a talking point as the performances on the track.
IMAGES from the Group A match played between the Netherlands and Qatar on Tuesday.
Felix Sanchez of the Dominican Republic proved that age is no barrier to track success when he stormed to a second men's Olympic 400 metres hurdles gold medal on Monday, eight years after winning in Athens.
Boualem Khoukhi's early strike and an eighth goal of the tournament from striker Almoez Ali gave Qatar a 2-0 halftime lead with Hassan Al-Haydos and Hamid Ismail completing the rout in the last 10 minutes.
The 21-year-old ran a superb last 200 metres, clocking the year's quickest time of 47.61 seconds.
Olympic champion Felix Sanchez pulled up after the first hurdle clutching his right hamstring.
A winless India remained in fourth spot in the group with three points from six matches. India are already out of contention for a World Cup berth but they are still in the reckoning for the 2023 Asian Cup.
Hajime Moriyasu's side, one of the favourites for the title, laboured throughout the opening 45 minutes and fell behind to a vicious long-range strike from Arslanmyrat Amanov that flew past goalkeeper Shuichi Gonda.
Day 5 guide to the action in the Moscow World Athletics Championships.
The Al Duhail forward was in rampant form for the Qataris as he became only the fourth player in Asian Cup history to score four in a single game.
American champion Tyson Gay continued his impressive buildup to next month's World championships on Thursday by winning the 100 metres at Lausanne's Athletissima Diamond League meeting in 9.79 seconds.
A gritty India survived waves of attacks from Qatar to hold the reigning Asian champions to a goalless draw to steal an unexpected point from their away match of the FIFA World Cup Qualifiers.
South Korea squandered a chance to book their spot at next year's World Cup finals on Thursday after a 0-0 draw with 10-man Iran left their qualification hopes precariously balanced.
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