UAE Under 19s beat Iraq in opening game

Dubai: The UAE defeated Iraq 2-1 in their first match of the Asian Youth Under 19 Championships at Khobar's Saud Bin Jalawi stadium in Saudi Arabia.

The victory puts UAE at the top of Group B with three points, the same as South Korea who beat Syria 1-0 in the last minute.

UAE face South Korea today at Khobar in a tough clash with the winner clinching a place in the quarterfinals. The UAE's third game will be against Syria on Tuesday.

The team dominated the match against Iraq from the start but they wasted many scoring opportunities through strikers Ahmad Khalil and Ahmad Ali.

UAE could have taken the lead in the first half, which ended goalless.

Iraq played with nine men after Qatari referee Abdul Rahman Abdo sent off Mohammad Abdul Zahra in the 11th minute for bringing down Ahmad Ali when he was through on goal facing only the Iraqi goalkeeper Ali Muttashar.

The referee also showed the red card to Walid Bahr, two minutes from time for his second bookable offence.

UAE coach Mehdi Ali, who succeeded Tunisian Khalid bin Yahia after he was sacked last month, did well in picking a team capable of taking three points from Iraq.

The Iraqi team had their chances in the second half and UAE were lucky to see an Iraqi attempt hit the bar in the 57th minute.

Penalty

Hamdan Kamali opened the scoring for UAE in the 64th minute through a penalty kick after an Iraqi defender brought down Ahmad Khalil inside the box.

Wing back Mohammad Fawzi scored the UAE's second in the 72nd minute when he got a pass from Amir Abdul Rahman behind the Iraqi defenders.

The Iraqis pressed in the remaining minutes although they were playing with ten.

An error by Hamdan Kamali allowed Iraq to score in the 83rd minute through Ali Ouda. Ahmad Khalil missed a chance to add a third for UAE when he failed to beat Muttashar in the Iraqi goal on 86 minute.

In the other matches Japan routed Yemen 5-0 and hosts Saudi Arabia defeated Iran 2-1 in group A.

Today's matches also see Saudi Arabia plan Yemen, Syria will take on Iraq and Japan will line-up against Iran.