Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Amman: Saudi Arabia have become the only Asian side to advance to the Arab U-20 Championship 2012 semi-final after the conclusion of the group stage on Thursday and have a chance to better their runners-up finish in the inaugural edition of the competition last year.
The AFC U-19 Championship 2012 contenders are the table toppers in Group A which saw fellow Asian sides and U-19 continental contenders Kuwait and Jordan finishing at third and fourth positions respectively.
The Saudis, who lost to Morocco in the 2011 final, will face Libya, the best second-placed team from all the three groups, in the semi-final match on July 15. If Saudi Arabia win this match, they will clash with either Algeria on Tunisia whose semi is on the same day.
Meanwhile, Qatar exited the championship after losing 2-1 to Libya on July 11 in Group B where they were the only Asian side playing also Mauritania and group leaders Algeria. Qatar have to be content with bottom position in the group.
Fellow participants in the U-19 Championship Syria and Iraq have also crashed out after finishing at second and fourth positions respectively in Group C which is led by Tunisia.
Syria who had accumulated five points almost had a chance to qualify for the semi-final on the best runners-up ticket but Libya beat them to the knock-out stage with seven points.
Seven AFC member associations and five member nations of the Confederation of African Football (CAF) are competing in the Union of Arab Football Associations’ (UAFA) tournament on July 4-18 hosted by Jordan.
The Asian sides will again entertain each other when the AFC U-19 Championship finals kick off on November 3.