Qatar’s title defence bid has ended in the ongoing Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-19 Football Championship, being held in Bahrain.
A heavy 3-0 loss to Japan, their maiden defeat in the competition after a 1-1 draw with Iran and a late 1-0 victory over Yemen, sent Qatar crashing as they ended up third in Group ‘C’.
Iwasaki fired in the 14th minute to give Japan the lead, before Koji Miyoshi made it 2-0 in the 45th minute. Takehiro Tomiyasu sealed Qatar’s fate with a third goal in the 62nd minute. It was Japan’s second win in the group stages.
The East Asians topped the group with seven points and qualified for the quarter-finals alongside group runners-up Iran, who climbed from third to second with five points, just one ahead of Qatar.
Iran booked their place after a tough 1-0 win over Yemen, thanks to a 45th-minute strike from Abolfazl Razzaghpour.
Vietnam held Iraq to a goalless draw to clinch the group’s other quarter-final slot.
The result saw Iraq top the group with seven points, two ahead of second-placers Vietnam and three above the UAE.
Elsewhere, UAE failed to qualify despite a come-from-behind 3-1 win over North Korea.
Skipper Kwang Song Han put North Korea ahead after eight minutes, but Ahmed Rashid equalised for the UAE in the 30th minute.
Faisal Al Matroushi then gave Emirates the lead, scoring the second goal in the 52nd minute, as Jassim Yaoqoub sealed the points with his team’s third in the 76th minute.
Today Tajikistan (3 points) and Australia (3 points) will fight for the second quarter-finals spot in Group ‘D’.
“Australia have very strong and athletic players. “We will try to prepare well but I think we will come into the game as underdogs,” Tajikistan coach Vitalii Levchecnko said.
“Tajikistan are a similar team to Uzbekistan, with the way they play. They sit back and try to play on the counter,” said Australia’s coach Ufuk Talay.
“We had a lot of possession against Uzbekistan but not a lot of effective possession and we need to improve on that. But we know how Tajikistan are set up and we’ll play accordingly.”
Uzbekistan, who are already in the final eight with wins over Tajikistan and Australia, take on winless China in a no-bearing game. Both matches will kick off at 7.30pm.