Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dhaka: Saudi Arabia stormed to a 6-2 victory over Gulf rivals the UAE at a rain-soaked Bangabandhu National Stadium on Sunday to qualify for the AFC U-16 Championship 2016 as Group D winners.
The Saudis gifted the UAE a fifth-minute lead when defender Abdulaziz Hamed Al Malki inadvertently put the ball into his own net but the advantage was to last just three minutes with Ali Al Shaikhi cancelling out his team-mate’s error with an eighth-minute equaliser.
Abdan Hamad Al Abdan put Saudi Arabia 2-1 up with the first of his hat-trick shortly after the quarter-of-an-hour mark before a 27th minute Dhari Al Anazi strike gave the Saudis a two-goal cushion going into the second-half.
Saudi Arabia’s lead was cut to just one three minutes after restart when UAE skipper Majid Rashid successfully converted a 48th minute penalty but it wasn’t long before the 1989 FIFA U-16 winners took command of the match, with Al Abdan restoring the two-goal lead with his second in the 57th minute before skipper Mousa Naif Al Mas made it 5-2 four minutes later.
The sixth and final goal came with 20 minutes remaining as Al Abdan completed his hat-trick, with the current crop of the Kingdom’s talented youngsters qualifying for the 2016 AFC U-16 Championship taking the first steps on a long and difficult journey to match the achievement of the under 16 side that won Asia’s first ever FIFA world title 26 years ago in Scotland.
Eleven group winners and four best second-placed teams will join India in next year’s finals, with the tournament hosts receiving an automatic qualification. Should India finish top of their qualifying group or among the four best second-placed teams, the fifth best second-placed nation will qualify for the final competition.