Tehran: Defender Khaled Kourdoghli scored deep into the stoppage time to salvage a point for the Syrians as Syria held China 1-1 in the Group D match of the AFC U-16 Championship on Sunday.
In the match played at the Rah Ahan Stadium of Tehran, Zhang Yuning’s 48th minute strike made the Chinese the firm favourite to win all three points from the match but Kourdoghli had other idea as his sublime leftfooter found the back of China’s net with just less than two minutes of play remaining.
With the group also featuring Uzbekistan and India, both the sides were over cautious from the beginning as there were lack of clear chances for both the sides until Yuning broke the deadlock in the 48th minute.
Syrian midfielder Subie Alhusni showed some scintillating football in the first half but his sublime crosses never found his teammates. The winger himself got a chance from a point blank in the 17th minute but Chinese goalkeeper Chen Wei was equal to the task.
With China not creating any fatal chances, coach Su Maozhen made a brave decision to send Chen Yi for Sun Weizhe but chances were still not coming. Midfielder Ahmad Ashqar squandered a golden opportunity to put Syria at the lead in the first half stoppage time but his point blank header off Alhusni did not have power to test Chinese goalie Wei.
Yuning’s guided the ball past in an empty net three minutes into the second half when Syrian goalkeeper Khaled Ibrahim blocked fellow striker Wang Jinxian’s powerful strike but failed to gather the ball cleanly.
The goal offered some promises in the otherwise dull match as Syria had to wait till the 76th minute to create a goal-bound chance. Second-half substitute Mohamad Baraa connected a brilliant header off Ashqar cross but he failed to test the newly substituted goalkeeper Fan Jinming as the shot went inches wide of the bar.
The climax of the match came during the lengthy six minutes of stoppage time as unmarked Kourdoghli was fed by a selfless Ashqar and the defender showed his skill by connecting a brilliant left-footer to salvage a point for the Syrians.
The Syrians had chance to even win the match but Ashqar hit the cross bar from around 22-yard. Syria will take on India while China will play Uzbekistan on Tuesday.