Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: Coach Abraham Mebratu praised his side’s patience as Yemen confirmed their place in the next round of qualifying for the AFC Asian Cup 2019 with a 2-0 win over Maldives that sealed a 4-0 aggregate win for the West Asian nation.
Abdulwasea Al Matari added to Yemen’s two-goal advantage from the first leg in Male before an own goal by Ali Ashadh nine minutes into the second half confirmed Mebratu’s team would progress to the group stage of qualifying for the tournament in the United Arab Emirates in 2019.
“I want to thank my players for achieving our target and reaching the next stage of the qualifiers,” said Mebratu. “Our task was to build on our win in the first leg and that is why we didn’t rush the victory. We warned the players they had to keep their concentration.
“We had played well in the first half and our aim was to avoid conceding goals and we achieved that. The players followed our instructions and we achieved the victory with a similar result to the first leg.”
Yemen join Malaysia, Cambodia, India and Tajikistan in booking their place in the next phase of the competition, when 24 nations will be drawn in six groups with 12 slots at the finals available.
The Maldives can join the Yemenis in the next round with victory over Laos when the two nations face off against one another in the remaining playoffs to be held in September and October.
“Our performance improved today and we had a better match than the first leg,” said Maldives caretaker coach Ismail Mahfooz, who replaced New Zealander Ricki Herbert at the helm after the first leg loss in Male last week.
“However, we made several defensive mistakes which cost us two goals and we eventually lost with a 2-0 defeat just like in the first leg.
“We have to work harder and hopefully we can improve in the next matches. Our players tried and gave their best but Yemen deserved to advance having won both matches.”
Photo: AFP