JAKARTA: Ali Saleh produced a virtuoso performance as
he helped the United Arab Emirates begin their AFC U-19
Championship campaign with a hard-fought 2-1 win over
Qatar on Thursday.

The talented 18-year-old produced a deft assist and a
superb goal to hand his side the perfect start to their
Group A campaign with games against Chinese Taipei and
host nation Indonesia, who meet in the day’s later fixture,
still to come for head coach Ludovic Batelli’s charge.

After a bright start in sultry conditions, Qatar fashioned
the first chance of the game, midfielder Abdollah Ali fizzing
a shot narrowly wide of the target with four minutes played.

Despite Qatar’s early dominance, it was to be the UAE who went
ahead on 16 minutes when Saleh’s clever pass found Ahmad Fawzi
who fired the ball home past the despairing dive of goalkeeper
Zakaria Salah.

Qatar, champions in 2014, responded well to the setback with
first Nasser Abdulsalam failing to find the target when well
placed and then livewire forward Abdulrasheed Umaru forcing
Suhail Abdulla into a smart save at his near post.

Their persistence paid handsome dividends in the 36th minute as
Umaru scrambled the ball home at the far post following a Mohammed
Waad corner that the Emirati defence failed to clear.

Not to be outdone however, the UAE regained the lead with four
minutes to play of an entertaining first half, this time Saleh
picking himself up after he had been fouled on the edge of the
area to bend a stunning free-kick into the top corner.

Qatar take on hosts Indonesia in their next clash on Sunday. The
same day UAE face Chinese Taipei.