The UAE marched into the semi-finals with a heart-stopping 9-8 sudden death victory over North Korea in the football competition at the 16th Asian Games at the Yuexiu Stadium here on Friday.
Tied goalless at the end of regulation time and then at the conclusion of half an hour's extra play, substitute Mohammad Al Shehi landed his penalty kick to the right of Korean goalkeeper Ju Kwang Min to send the UAE squad into wild celebration.
The UAE will now meet South Korea in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
"At the outset I want to thank my team for the commitment and dedication in making the entire UAE proud of us," UAE coach Mehdi Ali told Gulf News.
"This is a young side, but they have shown what they are capable of on the field," he added.
UAE should have settled the issue during normal time itself, were it not for some hasty shooting from their strikers, Ahmad Khalil in particular.
Khalil was in the clear on the 11th minute with only goalkeeper Min to beat when he sent in a weak left footer straight into his waiting hands.
And then in the 47th minute Omar Abdul Rahman played a deft touch to the UAE striker, who advanced without any challenger and found only the Korean goalkeeper in his way. Yet again in the 76th minute, Khalil was guilty of another golden opportunity when he was cleared by an Ahmad Ali pass inside the area, and once again the Al Ahli striker fumbled before goal.
Narrow miss
Egged on by a crowd of nearly 20,000, North Korea too had their chances and the best one belonged to Jon Kwang-ik midway through the first half. But the defender, who plays for Aprokgang Club in his homeland, saw his header off the first corner kick of the match sail over the bar.
With the UAE content to settle for a draw and force the issue from the spot, the North Koreans pressed for a goal and nearly got things in their favour midway through the second extra-time period but left winger Choe Kum Chol crashed his hastily taken volley wide and the UAE survived. In the other quarter-finals, Japan rode on a Keigo Higashi strike just before half-time to squeak past Thailand by a solitary goal while Iran secured a similar one-goal win against Oman to set up a last-four clash against strong medal contenders Japan in the second semi-final also on Tuesday.
In the third quarter-final, South Korea went into extra-time to get past Uzbekistan 3-1 and book their place in the last four stages against the UAE on Tuesday.
Do you think the UAE can win the semi-final? Are they realistic contenders to go all the way?
