Kuala Lumpur: Saudi Arabia and Bahrain secured victories in their AFC U-20 Futsal Championship Thailand 2019 West Zone Qualifiers on Friday.
Divided into two groups, the six teams in the West Zone are competing for three available spots to the Finals. Winners of their respective groups are assured spots in the Thailand 2019 Finals, while the teams in second place will move on to a play-off, where the the winners will advance to the Finals.
WEST ZONE
Group A: Saudi Arabia 4-1 Kuwait
Al Fujairah City: Saudi Arabia opened their qualifying campaign with a comprehensive 4-1 victory over Kuwait at the Fujairah Stadium.
Mohammed Khalil Marran gave Saudi Arabia an early lead after finding the net in the second minute as Kuwait trailed their opponents 1-0 at the end of the first half.
Kuwait, who lost 2-7 against Lebanon in their opener, conceded another four minutes after the restart following Musab Mohammed Muharraq’s strike.
Mubarak Ali M Alshahrani’s charges took control of the game and furthered their advantage three minutes later after Khalil Marran hit his second goal to put Saudi Arabia 3-0 up.
Abdullah Alsahli, however, pulled one back for Kuwait in the 33rd minute as they tried to find their way back into the game.
Kuwait were unable to break down their opponents as the goals eluded them and all hope was lost when Abdullah Jamal Aldossari scored Saudi Arabia's fourth in the 39th minute.
Saudi Arabia and Lebanon - both on three points - will clash for top spot on Saturday in their final group game.
Group B: UAE 2-4 Bahrain
Al Fujairah City: Bahrain bounced back from their opening day defeat to register a 4-2 win over United Arab Emirates at the Fujairah Stadium.
Mohamed Radhi Alsandi’s side, who lost 5-1 to Iraq on Thursday, fell behind to an early Mohamed Hasan Alsheebani strike in the ninth minute as UAE took a 1-0 lead at half-time.
Bahrain, however, came back fighting in the second half, starting with Sayed Adnan Almukhtar’s quick-fire goals in the 27th and 28th minutes to put them 2-1 up.
UAE then found themselves pegged in their own half for the remainder of the half as Bahrain goals from Saleh Ahmed Sanjar in 32nd minute and Komail Zakareya Hubail two minutes from time.
UAE currently lie bottom behind Iraq and Bahrain - who both have three points each. Rashed Khaleifa Obaid’s charges must win their final match against Iraq on Saturday for a chance to progress into the Finals.
Source: the-afc.com