Qatar, Jordan post wins in WAFF u-23 opening round
DOHA: Hosts Qatar began their West Asian Football Federation Championship
campaign on a winning note.
Striker Muiz Ali opened the scoring on 23 minutes to grant Qatar a one goal
lead at halftime at Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium on Wednesday.
In the seccond half, Al Sadd’s Hamza Sahnaji added the second on the hour
mark while prolific forward Akram Afif put the icing on the cake with a third
goal from the penalty spot in the 88th minute.
Qatar now sits atop of Group A ahead of Jordan on goal diffrence, in the other
group match, Jordan rose up to their pre-tournament expectations as one of
the tipped favorites by outshouldering Yemen 3-1.
Qatar coach Alex Sanchez relied on a young line-up centered around the squad
that represented Qatar in the u-19 World Cup played in New Zealand earlier
this summer.
In Qatar’s second game of the event, Qatar play Jordan on October 3.
Qatar’s last group phase game will be against Yemen on October 6.
The semi-finals of the event will take place on October 10 while the
title clash will be held on October 14.
The ten-team tournament will culminate on October 14.