Faisal Al Ghamdi (left) evades Jin Jingdao as Saudi Arabia book their place in the last eight with a 1-1 draw against China. TASHKENT - Yousef Al Khamis’ second-half header sent Saudi Arabia into the AFC U-16 Championship quarter-finals after holding China to a 1-1 draw in Thursday’s Group C finale at Pakhtakor Stadium.
China needed a win to join group winners Australia in the last eight and were heading into the knockout stage as substitute Yu Baobao capitalised on a defensive error to open the scoring at the start of the second-half only four minutes after coming on.
But Saudi Arabia, who held the crucial edge in terms of goal difference with both teams level on points, secured the draw they needed as substitute Al Khamis headed home with 19 minutes remaining.
On another sun-drenched afternoon in the Uzbekistan capital, China came to life following a tight start to the contest as Jiang Xiaochen shot across the face of goal following a strong run.
Jiang blazed over midway through the first-half and Zheng Kaimu headed wide before Liu Shangkun cushioned Jin Jingdao’s left wing cross into the path of Guo Yi but the midfielder pulled his effort wide of the upright from the edge of the six-yard area.
Following several earlier Saudi long-range efforts which failed to trouble Zhang Zhenqiang, Musab Al Otaibi’s low drive from 25-yards forced the keeper into a full-length diving save 10 minutes before the break.
Liu should have handed China the lead in first-half stoppage time but after beating the Saudi offside trap from Zhang Tianlong’s through ball, hesitated as he entered the area allowing Fawaz Al Khaibari to race off his line and block the shot at his feet.
Needing a goal to advance, coach Zhang Ning introduced Yu two minutes after the break as China adopted a more attacking formation with three strikers leading the search for a breakthrough.
And the move paid off just four minutes later as Yu capitalised on a slip from Saudi defender Abdullah Madu to skip into the area and slip the ball past a helpless Al Khaibari.
With 20 minutes remaining, Saudi substitute Al Khamis volleyed wide from Al Otaibi’s corner but a just a minute later the two again combined for the striker to power a downward header past Zhang Zhenqiang from the midfielders inviting right wing cross.
China dominated possession in the closing stages as they searched for a winner but failed to test Al Khaibari as Saudi Arabia held on to book their place in the last eight.
Source:The AFC.com
