Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Jenin: The United Arab Emirates advanced to the AFC U-19 Championships after a convincing 5-0 win over hosts Palestine saw them top qualifying Group C with a 100% record, while Afghanistan finished third after downing India 2-0 in Tuesday's other fixture.
With both sides having recorded victories over India and Afghanistan, Tuesday’s tussle at the Arab American University Stadium would determine which of the two took the guaranteed ticket to next year’s finals in Bahrain and who would be left hoping they had done enough to go through as one of the five best second-placed teams.
The UAE needed just three minutes to put themselves in pole position for a top-of-the-table finish when Majid Mohammed Al Mehairi broke the deadlock with his sixth of the qualifiers, which took the Al Jazira attacker to the top of the scoring charts.
Faisal Ahmed Al Matroushi doubled the UAE’s advantage in the 28th minute before a Moussa Basheer Farawi own goal eight minutes later left Palestine with the proverbial mountain to climb in the second half.
Palestine were unable to find the goals they needed to find a way back into the match and right at the death the UAE struck twice with Jassim Yaqoob (90th) and Mohamed Ismail Al Jnebi (90th +1) rubbing salt into Palestine’s wounds.
The UAE will join the nine other group winners and five best second-placed teams (which will be confirmed in due course) at the AFC U-19 Championship, with hosts Bahrain receiving automatic entry to next year’s 16-team tournament.
Meanwhile, Afghanistan finished third in the the table after defeating India 2-0 in the other Group C fixture which kicked-off simultaneously over in the West Bank at the Faisal Al Husseini Stadium.
Afghanistan were gifted the lead two minutes from the half-time interval when India forward Muhammed Ashique Kuruniyan scored an own goal before Reza Allah Yari sealed the Afghans’ first and only win of the campaign with 11 minutes remaining.