Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Abu Dhabi: Ahmed Khalil fired his way to the top of the scoring charts in the 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup joint-qualifiers as the UAE skipper accounted for four of his side’s goals in their 8-0 Group A win over Timor Leste on Thursday.
Ali Mabkhout opened the floodgates when the AFC Asian Cup 2015 Top Scorer put the UAE 1-0 up with 15 minutes at the Mohammed bin Zayed Stadium played before the Al Jazira forward, who struck five times as the UAE reached the semi-finals in Asia’s flagship tournament back in January, doubled the lead six minutes later.
Khalil, who failed to find the target for club side Al Ahli in the first leg of the 2015 AFC Champions League final last Saturday, made it 3-0 with the first of his four goals two minutes from the half-time interval before scoring a five-minute treble early in the second half as the 24-year-old struck four times for the second match in the qualifiers after his quartet in the UAE’s 10-0 hammering of Malaysia.
Khalil’s second, a 53rd minute penalty, sparked an incredible spell of four goals in five minutes, with second-half substitute Dawood Al Balooshi scoring 60 seconds after the AFC Youth Player of the Year had made it 4-0 from the spot before Khalil resumed the goalscoring mantle with two more strikes in the 56th and 58th minutes to take his individual tally for the qualifiers to a tournament-leading nine.
The Timorese shutout the rampant Emiratis for the majority of the remainder of the second half only for substitute Ahmed Al Hashmi to get his name of the scoresheet with the eighth and final goal of the game with three minutes left on the clock.
The UAE remain second in the Group A standings with ten points, three less than leaders Saudi Arabia, while Timor Leste are rooted at the foot of the table with two points following their draws with Malaysia and Palestine.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.