Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Doha: Qatar made a positive start in their quest to defend their AFC U-19 Championship crown at next year’s finals in Bahrain with a comprehensive 7-1 defeat of Kyrgyzstan on Friday, while Oman and Lebanon played out a goalless draw in the later Group D qualifier.
Sayed Issa put hosts Qatar 1-0 up at the Grand Hamad Stadium when he scored the first of his double 12 minutes into the Group D curtain raiser in the Qatari capital before Bassam Al Rawai doubled the advantage with ten minutes of the first-half remaining.
Qatar, who won their first continental U-19 title with a 1-0 win over DPR Korea in the 2014 final in Myanmar, upped the tempo in the second half and by the hour mark had taken the score to 5-1 with goals from Abdelrahman Moustafa (51st) and skipper Abdullah Abdulsalam Al Ahrak (54th) preceding Hazem Sheta’s 61st minute penalty, which restored Qatar’s four-goal lead which had been temporarily pegged back to three after Kyrgyzstan forward Kadybrek Shaarbekov had reduced the deficit three minutes earlier.
Substitute Khalid Muneer Mazeed, who replaced Abdelrahman Moustafa in the 59th minute, made it 6-1 in the 71st minute before Sayed Issa sealed the win with his second of the match with eight minutes left to play.
The victory put Qatar in pole position in Group D of Lebanon and Oman, who both missed the chance to join the Qataris at the top of the table after the two had to settle for a share of the spoils from Friday’s later fixture at the Grand Hamed Stadium.
Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams will qualify for the finals while hosts Bahrain received an automatic qualification (total 16 teams).
If Bahrain finish top of their qualifying group or one of the five second best-placed teams, the next (6th) second-placed team will qualify for the final competition.