Abu Dhabi: The UAE started their campaign in the qualifiers for the 2014 Asian Youth Championship in style by beating Yemen 2-1 in Amman, Jordan, late on Friday.
Defender Marwan Ali and midfielder Ahmad Rabie scored the goals for the UAE as they began their quest to win promotion to the finals in Myanmar next year from Group B, which also features Jordan, Maldives and Afghanistan.
Yemen started the match pressing for an early goal but the UAE soon began to creep back into the action with good moves from Khalfan Mubarak, Rashid Ghanim and Mohammad Abdul Basit, which created inroads into the back line of Yemen, who retreated to defend their own goal.
A corner kick by Mubarak was headed home by Marwan Ali in the 30th minute and a free-kick by the same player was placed home by Ahmad Rabie in the first minute of injury time at the end of the first half.
The UAE dominated the second half but failed to score more goals despite the changes made by head coach Khalifa Mubarak and the players lost concentration in the last ten minutes, which allowed Yemen to press forward and score a consolation goal in the last minute through Ali Hafiz’s header from substitute Waheeb Al Mufti’s curling free-kick.
The UAE will next face the Maldives on October 8.
