Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Mashhad: Skipper Reza Chaab opened and closed the floodgates as AFC U-19 Championship qualifying Group E hosts Iran hammered Nepal 10-0 on Friday, while Kuwait also picked up three points from their opening match with the Gulf side defeating Jordan 2-1 in the earlier fixture.
Chaab got the first of his four goals just one minute into the match at the Samen Al Aemeh Stadium and took Iran into double figures when he completed the scoring one minute into stoppage time, having also found the target in the 13th and 84th minutes.
Nima Mokhtari netted Iran’s second barley 60 seconds after Chaab had opened the scoring and got his second of the match with a minute of the first half remaining as Iran took a 5-0 lead at the interval, with defender Ali Shojaei also getting his name on the scoresheet in the 32nd minute.
Reza Shekari made it 6-0 from the penalty spot in the 57th minute and added his second half-an-hour later after substitute Mohammad Khoram - who replaced Mokhtari for the last 15 minutes - became Iran’s fifth scorer of the match in the 79th minute, netting the home side’s seventh goal just three minutes after entering the fray.
Iran went top of the Group E standings after the first match day courtesy of a vastly superior goal difference over Kuwait, who were made to work considerably hard to take three points from their qualifying curtain raiser against Jordan earlier on Friday.
Nasser Saeed opened the scoring in the 20th minute before Abdullah Karram doubled Kuwait’s lead from the penalty spot ten minutes later.
Harbi Ahmad Harbi Abdallah reduced the deficit with six minutes of the first-half remaining but with neither side scoring after the Jordan midfielder, the three points went to the Kuwaitis.
Kuwait take on Nepal on Sunday with the Hashemite Kingdom hoping to get their qualifying campaign back on track when they face hosts Iran later on the same day.
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.