Sport | Football
UAE youth beat Syria in style
Reach finals of the 2010 Asian Youth Championship, having collected full point
- By Yasir Abbasher, Senior Reporter
- Published: 00:00 November 12, 2009
Abu Dhabi: The UAE under-19 national football team defeated Syria 2-1 late Tuesday night in Al Ain to reach the finals of the 2010 Asian Youth Championship in style, having collected a full point from their four matches in the qualifiers, which they hosted in Tahnoon Bin Mohammad Stadium.
The UAE, the reigning champions of Asia after winning the title in Saudi Arabia in 2008, have registered another success for the youth category after the team's participation in the finals of the Fifa Under-20 World Cup in September and October in Egypt where they reached the last eight stage.
The finals of the 2010 Asian Championship is expected to be played in Thailand and the top four teams will reach the finals of the 2011 Fifa Under-20 World Cup in Colombia.
Syria took the lead as early as the second minute when Rabie Juma scored with a beautiful follow-up from inside the penalty area. But the home team replied in style with Salem Al Ameri scoring twice, one in each half, to take the full points, increasing his team's tally to 12 from four matches. The Syrians collected seven points which were enough for them to win promotion to the fin-als as Qatar lost against Bahrain with a single goal earlier in the night at the same venue.
Badr Saleh, the former coach of the UAE Under-17 team who led the juniors to the finals of next year's Asian Juniors Championship, took over the responsibility of the team from his compatriot Hilal Mohammad only five days before the kick off of the qualifiers and went on to lead them to win all their matches and reach the finals.
"I did not have a magic wand," Saleh told Gulf News yesterday. "But the players were determined to do their best for their country and they showed their true worth and deserved to win promotion.
"We are lucky to have such gifted players in the team which will be a solid foundation for a formidable first national team in the near future. I am happy with their results and performance and I thank them for not letting their fans or me down. I am looking forward to preparing them for the finals but this will depend upon whatever decision the UAE FA takes because I am also in charge of the juniors team who will also take part in the finals of the Asian Juniors Championship next year." Saleh said.
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