Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
West Bank: Uzbekistan and Yemen both recorded 6-0 wins on Friday, with the Central Asians seeing off hosts Palestine and the Yemenis accounting for the Maldives in the penultimate round of fixtures.
Yemen, who opened their campaign with a hard-fought 2-0 win over Palestine, put themselves on the road to their second Group A win when Waleed Aswad broke the deadlock at the Arab American University Stadium in the 23rd minute before midfielder Murad Murshed doubled the lead six minutes later.
A 32nd minute own goal from defender Mohamed Azhia Hamid extended Yemen’s advantage and after Aswad netted his second just two minutes later Mukthar Al Khalil added the fifth and final goal of a one-sided first-half two minutes before the break.
The second half was a much tighter affair with the Indian Ocean islander’s restricting Yemen to just one goal which came with 15 minutes remaining courtesy of substitute Ahmed Hamed Ahmed Saeed.
It was a similar story in the other Group A fixture over at the Faisal Al Husseini Stadium, with the Uzbeks dominating the first half to go into the interval with a commanding 4-0 lead.
Ikhtiyor Kholdorov opened the scoring in the 13th minute and after Abdulkhay Ismoilov made it 2-0 seven minutes later Uzbekistan skipper Abubakir Muydinov netted a quickfire double, with the first coming form the penalty spot in the 29th minute and the second scored in the 33rd minute.
Just like the Maldives in their match over in Jenin, Palestine gave a better account of themselves defensively in the second half, with the Uzbeks kept at bay until the final ten minutes when Bakhromjon Soatov made it 5-0 in the 83rd minute before Oston Urunov sealed the win 60 seconds from full time.
The third and final match day will see the Uzbeks and Yemen battle it out for top spot in Group A, with Sunday’s winner guaranteeing their place in next year’s finals in India, while Palestine and the Maldives will meet to determine who finishes Group A in third and fourth positions.
Ten group winners and four best second-placed teams will join DPR Korea, who topped the already concluded Group H, and India in next year’s finals, with the tournament hosts receiving an automatic qualification.
Should India finish top of their qualifying group or among the four best second-placed teams, the fifth best second-placed nation will qualify for the final competition.