In the morning sun of September 19, 2023, the 5th round of Group A of the 41st U20 Asian Cup Qualifiers in Uzbekistan was officially opened. In this round, the match between Saudi U19 National Youth and our U19 National Youth took place at the Prince Ben Jarawi Stadium in Al Hubayr, Saudi Arabia. The match ended with a narrow 1-0 victory for Saudi Arabia. Sulaiman scored the only goal of the match in a melee in half-time. Meanwhile, in the same group, Maldives lost 0-3 to Myanmar.In the Group A table, Saudi Arabia leads the way with 9 points, followed by China with 6 points, Myanmar with 3 points and Maldives with no points. The country is second in the group and is expected to vie for the last spot in the final round, alongside Saudi Arabia.
Looking back at the history of the group stage, Uzbekistan thrashed Maldives 7-0 in the first round of the tournament, while the country defeated Myanmar by virtue of a 1-3 scoreline. In the second round, Uzbekistan beat Myanmar 3-0, while the Maldives lost to Saudi Arabia by a margin of 0-11. In the third round, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan played to a 1-2 draw, while we swept the Maldives 5-0. In the fourth round, we lost 1-2 with Uzbekistan, while Myanmar suffered a 0-5 defeat against Saudi Arabia. It is worth noting that Uzbekistan, as hosts, do not get points for their qualifying results.
In the pre-match standings, Saudi Arabia and China are both tied with six points from two matches, while Myanmar and Maldives are both scoreless. In the starting lineup, China replaced all 11 starting players, while Saudi Arabia rotated Mehmesh, Suleiman, Subiani and Zaid.
[Highlights]
In the 11th minute, Ellerweine nearly broke the deadlock on the left side of the penalty area, and Li Hao got down in time to clear the danger.
In the 38th minute, Hirzati's diagonal cross from the left was headed in by Byhramu from the penalty spot, and Mehmetsh firmly confiscated the ball.
In the sixth minute of stoppage time, Radif turned and fired a shot from inside the top of the arc, and Li Hao went down to parry the ball off the line. Then, Jowel left corner pass, Dosari jumped up on the line of the small area header, Li Hao in the goal line subconsciously pounced on the ball, Suleiman back post left foot shot into the lower right corner of the goal, China 0-1 down!
In the 82nd minute, Jewell's corner kick from the right was met by Radiv's attached header from the middle of the penalty area line, which hit the top of the crossbar and bounced off the line.
In the end, Saudi Arabia edged out our country by a score of 1-0.
[Both lineups]
Saudi Arabia (4231): 21 Mehmesh; 12 Najdi, 3 Dosari, 4 Suleiman, 5 Banawi (90'18-Manhali); 6 Subiani, 13 Oyayari; 7 Elway (90+6'15-Mali), 10 Jowel, 8 Zayed; 9 Radif ( 90+6'20-Nemer);
Substitutes not on the field: 1-Jawash, 2-Julaidan, 11-Zubaidi, 14-Hassan, 16-Hazaz, 17-Rahmani, 19-Jawashian, 22-Youssef, 23-Anazi
China (4231): 1-Li Hao; 2-Hu Huotao, 4-Yang Minjie, 12-Zhang Yixuan, 15-Xiang Rongjun; 14-Xu Bin, 18-Chen Zhexuan; 11-Fan Chao (86'10-Buyurang), 21-Hilzati (74'8-Bao Shengxin), 9-Baiheramu; 7-Ayfirdin (90+3 ' 20-Rehemitura);
Substitutes: 3-Liu Langzhou, 5-Liu Haofan, 6-Yu Wenjie, 13-Alikuti, 16-Li Suda, 17-Liu Guobao, 19-Abdullah, 22-Huo Shenping, 23-Luan Yi
