MUSCAT: Youssef Amyn delivered a crucial 1-0 win to Iraq after his lone goal secured the triumph over hosts Oman in the sixth match of Group B at the AFC Asian Qualifiers — Road to 26 at Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex on Tuesday night.
The victory took Iraq’s credit to 11 points behind toppers South Korea by three points after the latter ended their match in a 1-1 draw against Palestine. Iraq revived their hopes to compete for the direct two spots while Oman remained on their six points. The qualifiers will resume in the next year on March 20 as Oman will take on South Korea in Seoul city while Iraq will face Kuwait.
It was a tough start from both sides as they were looking to score from the early minutes. Oman attackers began their movement towards Iraq’s goal as Mohsin al Ghassani got a free kick in the defensive half but it was not converted properly in the fifth minute. The first actual attempt from Red Warriors was through Abdullah Fawaz who sent a strong shot from more than 35 yards but it was blocked in the 11th minute.
Four minutes later, Iraq’s Ayman Hussain managed to score a goal but he was in an offside position. Ayman received a yellow card from the UAE’s referee Omar Mohammed after his tough block on Oman’s defender Ahmed al Khamisi in the 19th minute.
Abdullah Fawaz worked hard to supply a perfect cross from the left side of the box but Abdulrahman al Mushaifri could not make it count, inside the box in the 26th minute.
In the 36th minute, Iraq’s Youssef Amyn managed to break the deadlock as he scored the opening goal with a strong right-footed shot from the centre of the box to the top centre of the goal after a nice assist by Ahmed Yaseen. The first half ended with Iraq leading 1-0.
MISSED CHANCES
The second half began with a replacement from Oman’s head coach Rasheed Jaber as he decided to bring Fayez al Rushaidi replacing Ibrahim al Mukhaini due to an injury.
Red Warriors squad pressed hard towards the opponent’s side through many movements by Ahmed al Kaabi, Abdullah Fawaz and Mohsin al Ghassani. In the 54th minute, Ahmed al Kaabi supplied a great cross and continued with a strong header from Mohsin but it was saved by Iraq’s goalie Ahmed Basil.
Iraq coach Jesus Garcia did two substitutions by bringing on Amjed Attwan and Saad Abdulameer who replaced Ahmed Yaseen and Mohammed Hussain respectively in the 61st minute.
Rasheed Jaber also decided to play with Issam al Subhi and Zaher al Ghabri replacing Thani al Rushaidi and Abdulrahman al Mushaifri respectively. Zaher and Issam made their presence felt in the Iraqi goalmouth through various crosses inside the box while later on Arshad al Alawi replaced by Hatim al Roushdi in the 79th minute.
In the dying minutes, Issam al Subhi was very close to score the equaliser but his shot from outside the penalty box was saved by the Iraq goalkeeper Ahmed Basil.
Rasheed Jaber started the match of the Asian Qualifiers – Road to 26 with a starting line-up comprising Ibrahim al Mukhaini as goalkeeper. The defence line-up comprised Mohammed al Musallami, Thani al Rushaidi, Ahmed al Khamisi and Ahmed al Kaabi. Harib al Saadi monitored the centre line accompanied by Abdullah Fawaz, Abdulrahman al Mushfairi, Arshad al Alawi and Jameel al Yahmadi. The only striker in the front line was Mohsin al Ghassani, who scored the only late goal against Palestine in Oman's last game.
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