Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Canberra: After scoring the AFC Asian Cup’s fastest ever goal, Ali Mabkhout has been backed by UAE teammate and close friend Omar Abdulrahman to be among the top scorers at AFC Asian Cup Australia 2015.
The talented playmaker assisted Mabkhout’s record strike – the quickest ever in the continental competition’s 59-year history – during his side’s thrilling 2-1 win over Bahrain on Thursday at Canberra Stadium.
Watch Mabkhout's record strike
Match highlights: Bahrain 1-2 UAE
The Group C tie has barely kicked off when Bahrain defender Abdulla Omar lost possession of the ball to Abdulrahman in the right-back position and the midfielder’s immediate lofted pass found Mabkhout running through on goal to slip the ball under goalkeeper Sayed Mohamed Abbas with the stadium clock entering the game’s 14th second.
Mabkhout’s milestone achievement topped the previous fastest entries in the AFC record books that included Fathi Kameel of Kuwait who scored against China at the end of first minute in the 1976 AFC Asian Cup and Chinese midfielder Xie Yuxin’s goal after 20 seconds against Japan in the semi-final of the 1992 edition.
“I am so happy because of that (goal), and I tried to keep going,” said Mabkhout following the game.
“We played good and we deserved three points. But we played a very hard game, [Bahrain] made it hard and difficult for us. But it was important that we won the game.”
“Omar played very well and he deserved to be man of the match. I hope he continues to be the best player.”
The strong relationship between finisher and provider both on and off the field has been one of the abiding narratives of the UAE’s success so far, and Abdulrahman is sure that Mabkhout, who now currently leads the tournament’s top goal-scorer standings with three goals, will be amongst those contending for the golden boot along with strike-partner Ahmed Khalil.
“Of course I’m very close to Ali Mabkhout, we have played together for a very long time, and very happy for his performances as he is leading top scorer for this competition until now,” said Abdulrahman, who received the man-of-the-match award for his performance against Bahrain.
“I’m happy we have two successful strikers in Ali Mabkhout and Ahmed Khalil in this team, Ahmed has two goals and Ali has three goals so far.”
“We will work very hard to make them score more in the coming matches and hope one of them will be the top scorer for this competition.”
Having already helped secure the UAE’s place in the quarter-finals of the AFC Asian Cup, Mabkhout’s next opportunity to add to his goal tally will come against pre-tournament favourites Iran at Brisbane Stadium on Monday, with the two teams battling it out to see who tops Group C.
Photo: WSG