UAE midfielder Gharib Khamisi chases down Yemen forward Hasan Al Hubaishi as the Gulf nationa clash in their AFC U-16 Championship Group D opener.TASHKENT – Yemen and the United Arab Emirates shared the points after a 1-1 draw in their opening Group D match at the AFC U-16 Championship on Sunday.
Yemen broke the deadlock at MHSK Stadium with a 21st minute strike by Mohammed Greef but UAE levelled the score in the 35th minute when Fahad Salim fired home a powerful free-kick.
Both teams struggled to create chances early on but the deadlock was broken just before the midway point of the first half when Yemen launched a quick counter-attack down the right flank with Ali Nasser sending a neat pass to Greef who beat Ahmed Al Balooshi to the ball before putting the ball past UAE goalkeeper Eesa Abbas in a one-on-one situation.
Yemen nearly doubled their advantage nine minutes later when Greef sent in a cross from the right to Mohammed Al Shamsi whose powerful shot from inside the box was well stopped by Abbas.
The Yemenis continued to threaten and went close again in the 32nd minute when Waleed Al Hubaishi’s corner was met with a first time volley by Wesam Al Worafi that was cleared off the goal-line by defender Saeed Adel before hitting the right post.
That miss proved costly as UAE levelled the scores shortly afterwards when they were awarded a free-kick on the edge of the Yemen area and Fahad Salim stepped up to fire a powerful shot which nicked off the defensive wall on its way into the net.
UAE began the second half well and nearly went ahead four minutes after the break when Yaser Salman’s powerful volley from inside the area shaved the left upright.
But they had a scare a minute later when Al Worafi’s shot from outside the box flew directly at Eesa Abbas who unintentionally dropped the ball before catching it again on the goal-line.
Both teams continued to press for a winner with Mohamed Hussain going close for UAE with a shot from distance while Al Worafi put a volley just wide of the right post.
Yemen nearly got the winner with 10 minutes left when Waleed Al Hubaishi’s cross from the left was headed over by Ahmed Al Khamri while Al Worafi put a shot straight at Abbas four minutes later.
Source:The AFC.com
