Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Kunshan: Akram Afif scored the only goal of the game as a penalty save from Yousof Hassan sealed a 1-0 win for Qatar over Korea Republic in the third place play-off of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship on Friday evening.
Afif claimed the winner in the 39th minute before Hassan kept out Hwang Hyun-soo’s spot-kick, earning Felix Sanchez’s side the consolation of the tournament’s bronze medal.
Played in frigid conditions after heavy overnight snow, both teams cancelled each other out in a tense opening 30 minutes that yielded little in goal mouth action.
Yoon Seung-won’s glancing header – which was well wide of the mark – was a rare sight of goal for the Koreans while at the other end Afif fed the ball through to Abdelrahman Moustafa, but was shepherded to safety by Hwang Hyun-soo.
As the half wore on, though, Qatar started to find pockets of space to exploit. Moustafa’s low driven cross from the right caused concern in the Korean backline as it eventually fell at the feet of Almoez Ali, but his shot was deflected wide.
With six minutes remaining in the half, Sanchez’s side took the lead. Afif raced in behind the Korean defence as Qatar broke quickly and the Belgium-based attacker scored at the second attempt after Kang Hyeon-mu saved his initial shot on goal.