The defeat eliminated the Koreas from the competition while the UAE moved to the top of Group ‘D’ table with four points from two matches, same as Jordan, who drew goalless with Vietnam in the other match yesterday.
Vietnam are on two points while the Koreans are yet to score a point.
Coming off the back of a defeat by Jordan in their opening game, the Koreas needed at least a point to keep their qualification hopes alive.
Al Hammadi opened the scoring for the UAE after 17 minutes. The centre-back expertly controlled Yahia Nader’s chipped pass inside the box on the turn before slotting the ball between the legs of the Korean goalkeeper Kang Ju-hyok to score his team’s first goal of the campaign.
Al Ameri doubled the Whites’ lead at the half-hour mark. The Al Jazira striker received a cross from his club teammate Abdullah Ramadan, evaded the challenge of a Korean defender and poked the ball into the bottom corner to make it 2-0.
Al Hammadi nearly added his second of the night at the hour mark when he got on the end of Jassim Yaqoob’s outside-of-the-boot cross at the far post, but the defender’s header ricocheted off the woodwork.
In the other Group ‘D’ match yesterday, there was plenty of action but no goals as Jordan and Vietnam played out a 0-0 draw.
Coach Ahmed Abu Ismail made one change to his Jordan XI that defeated DPR Korea in the opening match, starting Ihab Ali instead of Mohammed Bani Atieh. Meanwhile, Tran Thanh Son replaced Huynh Tan Sinh in coach Park Hang-seo’s Vietnam line-up.
The game got off to a pacey start from both sides, but with no real threat to either goal until the 20th minute when Jordan’s Hadi Omar advanced down the right flank and fired from an acute angle, forcing a right-footed save from goalkeeper Bui Tien Dung.
Ten minutes before the break, Jordan came within a whisker of breaking the deadlock when Yazan Al Nuaimat rose highest to meet Ali Olwan’s pinpoint cross and his headed effort went agonisingly close at the wrong side of the upright.
Although the two teams shared possession, it was the Jordanians who posted more threat and eight minutes after the restart, Ward Al Barri tested Tien Dung with a long range, free-kick but the Vietnamese goalkeeper was able to parry it away.
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