Sport | Football
UAE youth head for World Cup
UAE under-19 footballers join the under-16 team to qualify for the World Youth Cup finals to be held in Egypt.
- By Sayed Ali, Senior Reporter
- Published: 23:02 November 9, 2008
- Image Credit: AP
- Saudi's Sultam Al Beshi (right) fights for the ball against UAE's Rashed Essa during their under-19 Asian qualifiers at the Prince Mohammad Bin Fahd stadium in Dammam, Saudi Arabia.
Dubai: UAE under-19 footballers joined the under-16 team to qualify for the World Youth Cup finals to be held in Egypt next year.
The under-16 team qualified last month to the World Youth Cup Under-17 finals, which will be held in Nigeria next year.
The under-19 team followed their compatriots to reach the under-20 World Cup finals with a spectacular show and a fighting spirit in the quarterfinals match against host Saudi Arabia.
The UAE beat Saudi Arabia with a solitary goal scored by Ziyab Awana in the 63rd minute to secure berth in the World Youth Cup finals for the third time.
The first time was in Malaysia in 1997 and the second was in 2003 when UAE host the World Cup finals and reached the quarterfinals to lose against Colombia.
UAE soccer fans hope that the qualification of the under-19 and under-16 teams will encourage the UAE senior team to qualify also for the World Cup finals in South Africa in 2010.
The seniors have lost the first three matches in the qualifiers, and there are five more games to go. The UAE will meet Iran on November 19 in Dubai and a win will revive hopes.
The UAE under-16 team showed a fine performance against the Saudis in the quarterfinals on Saturday night. It was a continuation of the team's excellent form in the tournament, which began with a win against Iraq, then South Korea and Syria to bag the full points in group B.
The UAE defence line, led by skipper Hamdan Kamali and his teammates Sa'ad Surour, Mohammad Faiz, Naser Mubarak and Abdul Aziz Haykal, were in fine form, denying the Saudis any scoring chances and keeping their 1-0 lead until the final whistle.
Goalkeeper Yousuf Abdul Rahman was outstanding. He saved several Saudi attempts, especially from Nawaf Al Abid, the most Saudi dangerous striker.
Amer Abdul Rahman's dynamic effort in the midfield was behind the UAE qualification. He created the magic pass from which Awana scored the UAE winner. Ahmad Khalil and Ahmad Ali at the front line lost many sitters, though.
At the final whistle, the UAE players hugged each other. They gathered in a circle at the centre, singing and carrying aloft their coach Mehdi Ali.
Goalkeeper Yousuf Abdul Rahman was outstanding. He saved several Saudi attempts, especially from Nawaf Al Abid, the most dangerous Saudi striker.
Multimedia
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