Iraq hold Iran as UAE, Qatar notch contrasting wins

MUSCAT - As hosts Oman cooled their heels the match of the day was between Iran and Iraq in the Asian Football Confederation’s Under-14 football festival at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Bausher yesterday.

Kuwait’s absence from the festival meant that yesterday’s fixture for Oman was scratched out and all the eyes were on the duel between Iran and Iraq.

Excitement was to the core in this particular match, which ultimately resulted in Iran and Iraq sharing the spoils with a 2-2 draw.

In fact, it was Iran who went ahead in the eighth minute of the first half when Ismail Shakouri found the target. But just a minute was lost when Osama Mahmood equalised for Iraq.

Iran, however, went ahead again with Ismail striking in the 11th minute and this scenario stayed until the half-time break. Meanwhile, in the second half, Iraq drew level through a Hussan Hanash strike and the deadlock remained intact until the end.

In an earlier match United Arab Emirates stunned Jordan 2-0 after a barren first half.

Qaba Ateeq opened the account for UAE in the 35th minute of the second half and with just three minutes remaining Hamdan Qassim made it 2-0. The final match of the day turned out to be an one-sided affair with Qatar crushing hapless Leabanon by a dozen goals (12-0). The story started with Lebanon’s Ahmed Dirani opening the account for Qatar through a self goal and later it was Qatar boys all the way.

For Qatar, Ali Hassan Yahya notched three goals and Khalfan Ibrahim slammed in two off the twelve goals.

The remaining six goals were shared by Mohammed Abdul Rab, Abdullah Al Ali, Abdullah Hassan, Abdullah Mohammed, Faisal Ali and Abdulaziz.

Today’s fixtures: UAE vs Oman (5.15pm); Iraq vs Qatar (6.30pm); Lebanon vs Iran (7.45pm).