AFC - Qatar, Bahrain and Iran emerged winners in the first day actions of Group C qualifiers of the AFC U-22 Championship played at the neutral venue of Maleka, Malaysia on Saturday.

Qatar comfortably defeated the Maldives 2-0 while Bahrain edged Central Asian side Tajikistan 2-1 with Iran also recording 1-0 win over Kuwait.

Two goals inside the fourth minute of both halves from captain Hassan Jameel ensured all three points for Bahrain as they restrained some last minute pressures from Tajikistan after conceding a 70th strike to Sabirov Kurbonali as Tajikistan managed to reduced the parity but failed to rescue any point from the match.

A tactical genius by former Lyon manager Andre Perrin saw his both the substitutes fire late in the match to deny the Maldives a fighting point.

Perrin made a double substitutions in the 60th minute brining in Hassan Abdelkarim and Badr Saleh and both the players went on to score with Saleh breaking the ice in the 77th minute and Abdelkarim ensuring all three points in the 86th minute.

The group saw another match decided by late goal as Iran’s Amin Hajmohammadi fired home a decisive winner in the 76th minute to start the qualifying campaign in promising note.

Monday’s Matches
Bahrain vs Kuwait
Iran vs Qatar
Tajikistan vs Maldives