SAUDI Arabia entered the Asian Football Confederation (AFC) Under-19 Championship final after overcoming Iran 6-5 in a fantastic goal festival yesterday.
In the final, on Sunday at National Stadium in Riffa, Saudi Arabia will face Japan who defeated Vietnman 3-0 in the second semifinal. The title clash kicks off at 5.30pm.
In the first match, the fans at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town were in for a treat when Saudi Arabia took the lead through captain Sami Al Naji, who scored from the penalty spot after teammate Rakan Al Anaze was brought down in the 18th minute.
Midfielder Ayman Al Khulaif gave the Saudis their second goal of the night in the 42nd minute after receiving a through ball in the penalty area and launching a one-touch right footed shot that nutmegged Iran’s goalkeeper Shahab Adeli on the way.
Iran’s Reza Jafari managed to pull one back for his side in the 45th minute after he easily dribbled past Saudi defender Fahad Al Harbi before shooting a goal.
In the first minute of the added time to the first half, Saudi’s Abdulrahman Al Yami gave his team the two-goal lead once again after receiving Al Khulaif’s low cross which he put in the back of the net.
However, Iran managed to score a second goal through Aref Aghasi’s close range shot in the thrd minute of the added time.
Saudi Arabia started the second half with intention of extending their lead, which they managed to do in the 51st minute through Al Naji, who claimed his second goal of the game.
Iran once again pulled a goal back to take the score to 4-3 when Saudi goalkeeper Amin Al Bukhari mishandled a cross into his box, dropping it at the feet of Iran’s Reza Shekari who found no difficulty scoring in the open goal in the 62nd minute.
A through pass from Saudi captain Al Naji to Khulaif split the Iranian defence to put the latter and teammate Al Yami in a two-on-one situation in the 64th minute. Khulaif quickly passed to Al Yami who had no one to beat and easily scored his team’s fifth goal and his second.
A 75th minute header from an unmarked Mehdi Mehdikhani saw Iran grab a goal to come back into the game. However, Saudi’s Al Yami was quick to score his hat-trick and his team’s sixth goal, just a minute later.
Iran’s substitute player Reza Karmollachab managed to score from an overhead kick with seven minutes to go but Saudi Arabia stood strong in the dying minutes to record a victory in the tournament’s highest goal-scoring match.
The second semi-final, at Shaikh Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town, saw Japan score twice early in the first half before adding a third in the second.
Japan scored their first goal through Kishimoto Takeru who was on the receiving end of a free-kick while being unmarked in the fifth minute.
Japan secured a second goal in the 10th minute after Vietnam goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung failed to clear a free kick from Nakamura Shunta.
Five minutes into the second half, Japan extended their lead to three after a failed clearance from Vietnam’s defence saw the ball bounce off Japan’s Shunta and into the net as goalkeeper Dung stood still.
The matches were attended by AFC President Shaikh Khalifa bin Salman Al Khalifa.