Akram Afif scored the only goal of the game as a penalty save from Yousof Hassan sealed a 1-0 win for Qatar over Korea Republic in the third place play-off of the 2018 AFC U23 Championship yesterday evening.
Afif claimed the winner in the 39th minute before Hassan kept out Hwang Hyun-soo’s spot-kick, earning Felix Sanchez’s side the consolation of the tournament’s bronze medal.
Played in frigid conditions after heavy overnight snow, both teams cancelled each other out in a tense opening 30 minutes that yielded little in goal mouth action.
Yoon Seung-won’s glancing header – which was well wide of the mark – was a rare sight of goal for the Koreans while at the other end Afif fed the ball through to Abdelrahman Moustafa, but was shepherded to safety by Hwang Hyun-soo.
As the half wore on, though, Qatar started to find pockets of space to exploit. Moustafa’s low driven cross from the right caused concern in the Korean backline as it eventually fell at the feet of Almoez Ali, but his shot was deflected wide.
With six minutes remaining in the half, Sanchez’s side took the lead. Afif raced in behind the Korean defence as Qatar broke quickly and the Belgium-based attacker scored at the second attempt after Kang Hyeon-mu saved his initial shot on goal.
Five minutes into the second half, the Koreans were handed the opportunity to level the scores when the assistant referee decided Tameem al-Muhaza had handled Park Jae-woo’s driven cross into the area.
But Korean captain Hwang saw his penalty saved by Hassan, the Qatar goalkeeper diving to his left to push the shot to safety and keep his side’s lead intact.
Afif squandered the opportunity to double his side’s advantage soon after when he latched on to Ali’s throughball, only for Kang to save, while Lee Keun-ho – on as a halftime substitute for the ineffective Yoon – was causing problems for the Qatar defence.
Twice the Ulsan Hyundai striker had a sight of goal, but both times Hassan was equal to the task while Cho Jae-wan was denied by the post after Hassan was beaten by his low shot.
The Koreans kept probing for the equaliser but the Qatari defence held firm to claim third place. Qatar coach Felix Sanchez credited his players’ professionalism as Qatar claimed the bronze medal.
“Today was a difficult one because nobody likes to play this game, but the players showed they were big professionals and they showed their commitment,” said Sanchez.
“We played a top team and they could have been in the final. We got the result and it was very tough, like all of our six games. We’re satisfied. We won five and drew one, which we lost on penalties.”
Sanchez was at the helm two years ago when the Qataris lost in the third place playoff to Iraq – missing out on a place at the 2016 Olympic Games in the process – but as the country continues to build for the future, the Spanish coach was satisfied with his team’s achievements during China 2018.
“We are leaving here with a good feeling,” he said. “We are happy with the result, especially because of the team we played against. But we are also a little sad because we would have liked to be playing tomorrow.
“But I’m very proud of the 23 players here. They worked so hard and were preparing for so long for the tournament.”
Qatar finish on a high, win Asian U23 bronze
