Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dushanbe: Hosts Tajikistan came from behind to beat Bahrain 3-2 while Iraq whipped the Maldives 5-0 on Sunday in the second round of Group F matches in the qualifiers for the 2016 AFC U-19 Championship.
Amirdzhon Safarov gave the Tajiks the lead with five minutes of the first half at the Republican Central Stadium remaining only for Bahrain to go into the interval 2-1 up following a 42nd minute Sayed Ebrahim equaliser and Mohamed Jasim Mohamed Ali Abdulla Marhoon’s goal on the stroke of half time.
Tajikistan levelled the score thanks to Kuvvatbek Ravshanbekov’s effort on the 58th minute mark before Safarov again found the Bahraini net seven minutes from full time to give his side their first win of the qualifiers.
Meanwhile, in the earlier Group F fixture on Sunday, Iraq’s Alaa Abbas Andulnabi opened the scoring against the Maldives in the 10th minute before goals from Ameer Sabah Khudhair (14th) and Mohammed Hassan (27th) had the West Asians firmly in control before the match had reached the half-hour mark.
Andulnabi grabbed his second and Iraq’s fourth six minutes from the interval before Mohammed Hassan completed his double and the victory seven minutes after the restart with the only goal of the second half.
Ten group winners and five best second-placed teams will qualify for the finals while hosts Bahrain received an automatic qualification (total 16 teams).
If Bahrain finish top of their qualifying group or one of the five second best-placed teams, the next (6th) second-placed team will qualify for the final competition.