Qatar down Iran to advance

AFC – Qatar became the first team to advance to the quarter-finals of the AFC Youth Championship 2004 following a 2-1 win over 10-man Iran at the Cheras Stadium on Monday.

Meanwhile, China closed in on a spot in the last eight with an emphatic 5-1 victory over Indonesia, who were eliminated from contention following their second straight loss in Group B.

Having beaten Indonesia 1-0 in their opener, Qatar went into their match with the Iranians knowing that another win would send them through to the knockout stage. And they enjoyed the best possible start, earning a penalty kick after just two minutes that was coolly converted by Waleed Abdulla.

Iran, who played out a goalless draw with China in their opening match, battled back and leveled the score in injury time at the end of the opening half through skipper Adel Kolahkaj.

However, Qatar regained the lead nine minutes into the second half through Khalid Al Hajari and Iran’s hopes of rescuing a point were dashed when Mahdi Mohammadpour was sent off with 13 minutes remaining.

With maximum points from two games, Qatar have secured a place in the quarter-finals but they can confirm top spot in the group with at least a draw in their match against China on Wednesday. Iran will have to beat Indonesia convincingly and hope that the Qataris can beat China in order to progress further in the competition.

China moved into second place in the group with a convincing victory against Indonesia. Yin Tiesheng’s side may have been profligate in front of goal against the Iranians last Saturday but they showed no such charity as they raced into a 4-0 lead at half-time against the South East Asian youngsters.

Hao Junmin broke the deadlock after just 11 minutes by diverting home a cross from the left and Tian Wangsheng scambled home a rebound three minutes later after Indonesia goalkeeper Roni Tri Prasanto failed to hold on to Chen Tao’s free kick.

Zhou Haibin made it 3-0 in the 20th minute and Zhu Ting headed home six minutes before the break to put China into complete control.

Boas Salossa scored a consolation goal for Indonesia in the 57th minute after taking the ball away from China goalkeeper Guan Zhen on the left edge of the box and firing into an unguarded net from an acute angle.

However, China still had the last word as Shen Longyuan bundled home his side’s fifth goal in injury time.

AFC Youth Championship 2004
Group B
Qatar 2 Iran 1
China 5 Indonesia 1

Group B P W D L F A GD Pts 
Qatar 2 2 0 0 3 1 2 6 
China 2 1 1 0 5 1 4 4 
Iran 2 0 1 1 1 2 -1 1 
Indonesia 2 0 0 2 1 6 -5 0