Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar: Qatar U-19 team director Abdullah Al Hanzab praised his Qatar players for accomplishing their “dream” of securing a place in the AFC U-19 Championship semi-final for the first time since 1990 as well as a place at the 2015 FIFA U-20 World Cup, with a 4-2 victory over China in their quarter-final at Wunna Theikdi Stadium on Friday.

Zhou Yuchen and Wei Shihao saw red for China while Assim Madibo was also dismissed for Qatar in a heated clash in Nay Pyi Taw, but it was the West Qataris who did enough to secure their place in Monday’s semi-finals where they are set to experience the cauldron of noise that will be a packed Thuwunna Youth Training Centre Stadium in Yangon against hosts Myanmar.
“Today is the day to enjoy this achievement; it is a dream for the players. I am so happy we are into the semi-finals and also qualified for the World Cup,” said Abdullah Al Hanzab, who stressed that the early goal from Al Sadi after five minutes was crucial.

“When you score very early it gives you more confidence, in the first minutes of a game the players are nervous so we pressed high early on and got rewarded with an early goal.

“We continued with our game-plan and our mentality was very good in the first-half. In the second half the players knew they were on the verge of qualifying for the semi-finals and for the World Cup so they were maybe a bit too excited and we conceded.

“But, thankfully, we were able to score again and get the result we needed.”