Mohamed Hubail scored in the last minute to earn Bahrain a 1-1 draw with Qatar in their Asian Cup Group A match at the Worker's Stadium Wednesday.

Qatar, who had their coach Philppe Troussier sacked after their surprise 2-1 by Indonesia in their first match last Sunday, looked a totally different team under new coach Saeed Almsned on the rain-soaked pitch.

They created several good chances in the first half but failed to score for poor finishing.

Deadlocked at 0-0 at halftime, the two sides played faster in the second half. Talal Yusuf headed a cross inches wide of Qatar's goal in the 55th minute.

Qatar went ahead in the 59th minute after forwards Sayed Ali Bechir was fouled in the box and Japanese referee Kamikawa Toru immediately pointed at the spot.

Midfielder Wesam Rizik stepped in to fire home to give Qatar a 1-0 lead.

Bahrain, who held hosts China 2-2 in the opening match, were close to equalizing minutes later but Yusuf's header was too high.

Second half substitution Duaij Naser made a solo run in the 64th minute but fell in the box.

Hubail's header mysteriously lobbed Qatar goalkeeper Q. Burhan in the last minute when the match was heading for a 1-0 win in Qatar's favor.

"We are totally a different team from the one which lost to Indonesia," said Qatar coach Almsned. "We tried to control the game and keep the ball. We know that it will be very dangerous to give the ball away. We played a very good game."

Almsned, a coach who saw most of the players grow up, said that players were more like a team than last time.

"I told them to believe themselves and discipline, and then we can win the match," he said.

Bahrain coach Srecho Jurici was also surprised to see that Qatar was a changed team.

"They are really not the same team against Indonesia," the Croat said. "They were more tight, well organized and played well."

But he said that he did not expect they would concede a goal first.

"We dominated the match for most of the time and we tried to score first. But they counter attacked and defended well, after lose the penalty, it was very difficult for us."

Qatar will face China on Sunday and Bahrain play Indonesia in the last matches of the group.

"China is a good team in Asia," Almsned said. "Every match is different, we will try to do better against China."

Lineup:

Bahrain: Ali Saeed, Hassan Al Mosawi (63rd, Sayed Adnan), Ghazi Al Kawari (75th, M. Hubail), Mahmood Jalal, Rashid Al Dosari, Mohamed Salmeen, Talal Yusuf, Hussain Baba, A'ala Hubail, Husain Ali (23rd, D. Naser)

Qatar: Q. Burhan, Nayef Al Khater, Saoud Al Kathiri, Mesbeh al Meamari, Bilal M, Rizik A Majid (84th, Jassim Al Tamimi), Ezzat Jaoua, Sattam Al Shammri, Waleed Mohyaden (72nd, Aziz Karim), Sayed Ali, Mohammed Gholam (32nd, Jouhar Fairouz)