AFC U-16: Syria 1-1 Qatar

Goalkeeper William Ghannam saved a stoppage-time penalty as Syria maintained their unbeaten record at the AFC U-16 Championship following a 1-1 draw with Qatar at Rajamangala Stadium in Thailand on Monday,according to AFC.com.

Anas Aji’s 22nd minute strike had handed Syria the lead as Mohamed Al Attar’s side looked to build on Sunday’s opening goalless draw with Saudi Arabia only for Khalid Mazeed to equalize for Qatar on the hour mark.

And Oscar Fernandez’s side were handed the chance to bounce back from Sunday’s 3-2 defeat by Iran only for Ghannam to superbly save from Qatar captain Khalifa Al Manaseer in the 94th minute.

“I think it was a fair result between the two teams. Now all the teams have a legitimate chance to make the knockout stage,” said Syria coach Al Attar, with his side set to round off their group stage campaign against Iran on Thursday at Muangthong Stadium.

“Qatar played better than in the first game.”

Despite the humid afternoon conditions, both teams started an open contest at a fast pace with Qatar having the better of possession particularly inside the Syria half.

But it was Syria who took the lead midway through the first half as a good advantage played by Uzbekistani referee Valentin Kovalenko eventually led to Aji skipping into the penalty area before guiding an angled shot into the far corner past Qatar goalkeeper Mohammed Ibrahim.

Qatar were able to regroup after the setback and showed plenty of attacking threat but lacked quality in the final third.

Fernandez’s side, though, came close to an equalizer three minutes before half-time as Syria goalkeeper Ghannam was out-jumped by Abdulrasheed Umaru as Al Manaseer’s free-kick was pumped towards the edge of the penalty area, only for the weak glancing header to come back off the face of the crossbar and drop back into the custodian’s grateful arms.

And Qatar started the second half brightly as Syria goalkeeper Ghannam produced a point blank save to deny Umaru seven minutes after the restart.

But Ghannam was eventually beaten on the hour mark as Mazeed found space inside the area before firing high past the Syria goalkeeper from close to the penalty spot.

Syria, though, were unlucky not to reclaim their lead seven minutes later as Abdullah Barakat struck the inside of the post from just inside the area with Ibrahim beaten.

But Qatar should have taken the lead themselves a minute later as a burst of pace sent Hassan Ahmad free down the right side, and after cutting into the area, the striker squared the ball for Nasser Al Ahrak only for the midfielder to slip inside the six yard area with the goal at his mercy.

Qatar continued to pour forward and Umaru dragged an effort into the side netting shortly before the striker pulled another strike across the face of goal with 12 minutes remaining.

And Syria nearly took full advantage with six minutes remaining but Ibrahim produced a superb point black reflex save to deny Aji.

But it was Qatar who looked to have been handed the chance to claim all three points as Hadi Brghol was sent-off for pulling back Qatar substitute Abdulla Al Murisi in stoppage time, but Ghannam underlined his growing reputation with a superb save to deny Al Manaseer.

“We had a lot of chances and they scored from one mistake in the first half. We conceded some chances in the last 10 minutes and the last 10 minutes was the only time I thought we could lose the game,” said Qatar coach Fernandez, with his side set to round off their campaign against Saudi Arabia at Rajamangala Stadium on Thursday.

“But we had four or five chances in the first half and eight or nine in the second half and then the penalty in the last second, but this is the game.”

M.D