DOHA: Qatar sealed their place in the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024knockout stage in dramatic fashion with a last-gasp 2-1 victory against Jordan at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Thursday.
Both teams looked set to share the spoils in their second Group B encounter until Mohamed Manai headed in a free-kick in the 13th minute of added time, with VAR confirming the goal after a review to see Qatar become the first side to qualify from the group stage.
Determined to claim their first win after opening their campaign with a stalemate against Australia, Jordan put the hosts under pressure from the start and Baker Kalbouneh had a sight of goal after just 90 seconds, only to see his low shot saved.
Sief Darwish then had a shot blocked before Moustafa Mashal registered Qatar’s first effort on target on 21 minutes when he met Khaled Ali’s pass with a header but it was easily held by Ahmad Juaidi.
While the Jordanians saw more of the ball, they lacked a cutting edge upfront and were made to pay in the 40th minute as they fell behind.
Saifeldeen Hassan started a flowing move from left-back and after surging into the centre of the pitch, he picked out Ali on the right. The winger, in turn, released an overlapping Abdulla Alyazidi and the right-back’s attempted cross ended up in the far corner instead to break the deadlock.
Conceding the goal only served to spur on Jordan and they were rewarded for a bright start to the second half when, following a VAR review, Amer Jamous was adjudged to have been fouled in the box.
Aref Haitham stepped up and coolly sent Yousef Abdullah to the right and the penalty into the bottom left corner for the equaliser in the 52nd minute.
The home side tried to hit back immediately two minutes later and Juaidi had to be alert to tip over a fierce strike from distance by Hassan.
A good opportunity was spurned by Haitham late on after he raced clear down the left but that miss was to be severely punished as the game moved into added time.
Substitutes Jassem Alsharshani and Manai combined to devastating effect after Qatar earned a free-kick on the right, with the former’s inviting delivery met by a thumping header from his teammate to clinch all three points as Jordan were left stunned.
