Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Manama: Waleed Kareem scored the only goal of the game as Iraq held off a determined United Arab Emirates to pick up a 1-0 win in their opening game of the AFC U-19 Championships Bahrain 2016 at Khalifa Sports City Stadium on Friday evening.
Kareem’s 26th minute strike secured all three points for the four-time champions, but the UAE will feel they deserved at least a share of the spoils after an impressive showing in the second half.
The Emiratis dominated throughout the second 45 minutes but poor finishing and the goalkeeping of Iraq’s Hasanain Mohammed ensured Abbas Atiyah’s side joined Vietnam at the top of the early standings in Group B.
Mohammad Juma threatened for the UAE after just 10 minutes when he stormed down the left before cutting inside and attempting to smash his shot beyond Iraqi goalkeeper Mohammed, only for his attempt to fly wide.
The Iraqis took the lead 16 minutes later when a long clearance from Mohammed eventually fell to Alaa Abbas, who steered the ball into the path of Mazin Fayyadh. His clever cutback after a driving run into the penalty area found Kareem and he netted with a sliding finish.
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