Tribune News Network
Doha
A superb header from Mohamed Mannai in the 13th minute of added time saw Qatar clinch a thrilling 2-1 win over Jordan at the Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium on Thursday to seal their place in the AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 knockout stage.
A VAR to check offside added to the waiting breaths of a large number of numbers but a goal confirmation soon saw them going up in delight. Hosts Qatar became the first side to qualify from the group stage.
Both Qatar and Jordan looked set to share the spoils in their second Group A encounter until substitute Mannai delivered the big one.
Qatar coach Ilidio Vale congratulated his team on their making the knockouts. “We knew it would be very difficult against Jordan but the players did not give up till the very end.We had a perfect first half and we were better than the competitor, and we deserved to advance, perhaps by more than one goal,” he said.
On his team last group stage match against Australia, Vale said: “We will not change our formation against Australia and we will be looking for a third successive win.”
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 Al Sharshani 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 to leave Jordan stunned.
