FOOTBALL – Saoud Feras Abu Zaid broke Bahrain’s hearts last night after scoring a last-gasp winner for Jordan in their narrow 2-1 victory over the hosts in Group D of the AFC U20 Asian Cup 2027 qualifiers.
Abu Zaid took advantage of some porous Bahraini defending to fire in – unmarked – from close range in the fifth minute of second-half stoppage time at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town.
Teammate Naser Majdi Dajani had earlier put the Jordanians ahead but then Bader Alasam equalised for the home team, setting the stage for Abu Zaid’s dramatic clincher.
With the defeat, the Bahrainis suffered a blow in their bid to qualify for next year’s AFC U20 Asian Cup, while Jordan significantly boosted their chances.
The nationals are still in the fight, however, and it will now go down to the third and final matchday on Sunday.
They face Afghanistan at 8.30pm to wrap up their qualification campaign, while Jordan go up against Tajikistan, who were 4-1 winners against the Afghans in yesterday’s other divisional clash.
The Jordanians climbed to solo first place with last night’s triumph on six points from two games.
Bahrain and Tajikistan are tied on three points each, with their head-to-head result – a 3-2 win for the Bahrainis – putting the nationals ahead.
Afghanistan round out the Group D table with zero markers.
The quartet are amongst 32 junior men’s national teams competing in these qualifiers.
The field has been divided into eight groups of four, with each being held at a centralised location. =
Following a single round-robin, the eight group winners and seven best second-placers will punch their tickets to next year’s AFC U20 Asian Cup.
Jordan took the lead in the 59th minute when Dajani headed in from inside the six-yard box off a corner kick.
But Alasam brought Bahrain back on level terms with his own header in the 76th minute.
He was on the receiving end of a free-kick delivered by Ali Husain Naser from around 30 yards out, and he made no mistake with his effort from the face of goal.
Both teams tried hard in the game’s closing stages to net a winner, and Jordan’s efforts were rewarded when Abu Zaid scored off a low cross from the right supplied by skipper Mohammad Albeeter.
Earlier in last night’s contest, both teams had opportunities to take the lead in the first half, but neither could find the finishing touch.
The Bahrainis’ best chance likely came from Ahmed Nasser Alhumood, who took advantage of a defensive error by Jordan to head for a one-on-one with opposing goalkeeper Mohammad Alshloul.
But he fired right at Alshloul’s body, and the Jordanians were able to clear.
patrick@gdnmedia.bh
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