BAHRAIN suffered a disheartening 1-3 defeat to Saudi Arabia last night in their opening match of the AFC U-23 Championship Qualifiers, held in Riyadh.
Midfielder Sami Alnaji broke a 1-1 deadlock and put the winners ahead for good when he scored from the penalty spot in the 73rd minute. That decisive strike came just minutes after Bahrain had equalised with their own penalty through Ali Madan.
Saudi forward Abdulaziz Alaryani had opened the scoring with an early strike in the seventh minute of the match.
Bahraini defender Hamad Al Shamsan then gifted the home side their third with an own goal two minutes from full time.
The result put Saudi in second place on the group ‘B’ standings after the first of three match days. Iraq went directly to the top after thrashing Afghanistan 8-0 in yesterday’s opening contest at Riyadh’s Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium.
Qualifying action continues tomorrow with Bahrain taking on Iraq at 5.55pm at the same venue, followed by Afghanistan facing the Saudis at 8.55pm. The top team from the groups earns an automatic berth to next year’s AFC U-23 Championship.
Bahrain found themselves facing a quick deficit despite a pair of fine early saves from goalkeeper Mahboob Aldoseri.
Alaryani put his team ahead after receiving a great pass that sent him clear of the Bahrain back line. He made no mistake on his one-on-one with Aldoseri and his strike was enough to give the Saudis a slim 1-0 advantage at half-time.
In the 62nd minute, Bahrain won a penalty after Saudi defender Hamad Alshamrani handled the ball while trying to clear a cross in the box. Bahrain’s Madan calmly stepped up to take the spot kick and he sent the ball home straight into the net past lunging Saudi goalkeeper Amin Albukhari.
Saudi were then awarded their own penalty after midfielder Rakan Alanaze appeared to be taken down by Bahraini defender Mahmood Mukhatar. Bahrain players protested the dubious call but their gripes fell on deaf ears. Alnaji scored the penalty with an easy shot to the bottom-right corner of goal.
Any hopes of equalising a second time were then dashed for Bahrain when Al Shamsan headed the ball into his own net when trying to clear a Saudi cross.
In yesterday’s other group ‘B’ game striker Aymen Hussein spearheaded Iraq in their emphatic 8-0 win over Afghanistan.
Hussein scored an impressive five goals (39th, 45th, 65th, 74th and 85th) in the contest, while Bashar Bonyan, Alaa Mhawi and substitute Mohammed Al Jumaili contributed a goal apiece.