AFC U-16 Championship MD3: Group D Preview

Syria, Saudi Arabia and Qatar head into the final round of fixtures in Group D on Thursday all still in contention to join table-topping Iran in the weekend’s quarter-finals of the AFC U-16 Championship, according to AFC reporter.

Iran beat Saudi Arabia 2-1 on Tuesday to seal a place in the quarter-finals as Group D winners with a game to spare with Mostafa Ghanbar Pour’s side boasting a 100% record having earlier beaten Qatar.

But on Thursday, Iran will face Syria at Muangthong Stadium, while Saudi Arabia will take on Qatar with the last remaining quarter-final berth still up for grabs with the three contenders separated by just a single point.

Syria currently possess second place following back-to-back draws with Saudi Arabia and Qatar and Mohamed Al Attar’s side can secure qualification to the quarter-finals with victory over Iran.

Al Attar, though, will be without Hadi Brghol after the defender was sent-off in the closing stages against Qatar.

“It will be a difficult match, but we have to win to have a chance of qualifying. Iran have very good players and they are experienced and they can handle the changes and ups and down during the match,” said Al Attar .

“But football is all about goals and you can have all the possession, but it won’t matter.

“We will have a different approach and try to be one of the two teams who qualifies from the group.”

Iran will face the runner-up from C in Sunday’s quarter-finals with Uzbekistan, Nepal and DPR Korea all in contention heading into their final round of group stage fixtures on Thursday.

“We have one more match against Syria and we will do our best to play as strong as possible to qualify with nine points,” said Iran coach Ghanbar Pour, who has Nima Daghestani back at his disposal after the centre-back missed the win over Saudi Arabia due to suspension.

“However, the players have had a tough two games and are now tired, so we will give chances to the substitute players to play in the group stage.”

At Rajamangala Stadium, both Qatar and Saudi Arabia must hope Syria fail to win to keep their hopes alive with the pair currently a point adrift in a tie for third place.

“The players are not happy, but in the next game we need to recover our mentality,” said Saudi Arabia coach Antonio Ruiz.

“The next game is different and we have some possibilities to advance to the quarter-finals.

“Qatar are a good team for Saudi Arabia to play.”

Having lost their Group D opener to Iran, Qatar had a chance to claim all three points on Tuesday against Syria but captain Khalifa Al Manaseer saw his stoppage time penalty saved as Oscar Fernandez’s side were forced to settle for a point.

“In the first game against Iran we had chance against a strong team. And only in the last 10 minutes against Syria I thought we could have lost. In the full game against Syria we had 15 chances and also hit the post,” said Qatar coach Oscar Fernandez.

“We need to improve this for the next game and we have to work hard.”

M.D