2016 AFC U-23 Championship Day 4 Recap

PFDC – DOHA, Group A action resumed as hosts Qatar continued their dominance at home with a 2-1 victory over Persian Gulf neighbors Iran and Syria got back on track with a 3-1 win over China.

Iran v Qatar – Jassim bin Hammad Stadium, Doha

The Iranians were looking to build on their win against Syria but fell behind in the 35th minute when the Qataris beat the Iranian offside trap. Ahmed Alaa scored his second goal of the tournament when he received a great pass down the middle of the field, carried it into the penalty area, and shot it between the legs of Iranian keeper Mohammadreza Akhbari.

Eleven minutes into the second half defender Abdelkarim Hassan evaded Iranian defender Mohammad Daneshgar on a corner kick to tap in his third goal of the tournament to put the Qataris up 2-0.

Later in the second half Iran were awarded a penalty kick after Amir Arsalan Motahari was fouled in the penalty area by Ahmed Yasser. It was the perfect opportunity for Iran to cut the lead in half but Rouzbeh Cheshmi’s penalty was denied by Muhannad Naim.

Iran did get on the scoresheet in the 90th minute when Mehdi Torabi assisted a goal scored by Ali Karimi but it was too little and too late. The missed penalty was costly but all the Iranians can do now is prepare for their final group match against China. The host nation on the other hand are in good position at the top of the group with a one-hundred percent record.

China v Syria – Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium, Doha

In extremely similar fashion to the match against Qatar, China took the lead through free kick specialist Liao Lisheng. China were awarded a free kick after twenty minutes and Liao curved the ball over the wall and into the net like a world class professional.

Both teams needed the win badly after beginning the tournament with defeats. The Syrians nearly found the equalizer later in the first half through Moayad Khouli when his long range effort hit the crossbar.

As the first half was nearing stoppage time, a long ball and found its way into the Chinese penalty area. Defender Mi Haolun headed the ball towards his keeper but it went into right no-man’s land. Syrian forward Mahmoud Al-Baher went for the ball and was fouled by keeper Du Jia. The Chinese keeper received a straight red card and striker Omar Khribin converted the penalty to tie the match.

The first half ended in the worst way possible for China as they would have to play the second half with ten men and the Syrians carried all the momentum.

Less than ten minutes into the second half, a nice run down the left by Khaled Mobaya and then a pass to Khribin was finished off beautifully as the bending shot bounced off the crossbar and across the goal-line. The Syrians now had a 2-1 lead.

In the 83rd minute the Syrians put on the finishing touches in a wild goal-mouth incident. A cross from the left that went into the six-yard box was first struck by Al-Baher but his shot hit the post. Khibrin then almost completed his hat-trick but his shot rattled the post and the rebound went towards the other post where Al-Baher tapped it in and gave Syria the 3-1 win.

Group A Schedule for January 18

Qatar v Syria
Iran v China

Image courtesy of the-afc.com