Fighting Bahrainis bow to Koreans

Manama : Bahrain last night suffered to their first defeat at the AFC U-19 Championship at Khalifa Sports City Stadium in Isa Town after losing 2-1 to 12-time champions South Korea in a Group ‘A’ clash.

After a goalless first-half, Sayed Ebrahim Alawi broke the deadlock in the 56th minute and giving Bahrain the lead after Ahmed Saleh’s corner from the Bahrain right swung out towards Jassim Redha and his right-foot volley looked to be heading for goal before Alawi redirected the ball beyond goalkeeper Song.

But as Abdulaziz Abdo’s side looked set to claim the victory, Young Wook Cho beat Bahrain’s goalkeeper Yusuf Habib with late double in the 84th and 90th minutes which turned the tables on the tournament hosts and gave the Koreans three precious points and on verge of a place in the quarter-finals.

Bahrain coach Abdul Aziz Abdo said, “All of us, all the Bahrain people must be proud of the team because we have shown that we can fight and play with good tactics. I have never seen a team like this in Bahrain before. 

Our team was better in every way, tactically, in transitions and on every side of the game we were better and Korea had two chances and got the win.”

Bahrain, who beat Saudi Arabia 3-2 in the opening match on Thursday, are on three points and now must win their concluding game against Thailand to ensure a place in the quarter-finals.

The victory for South Korea followed on after a 3-1 win over Thailand, helped them seal their quarter-final spot.

In the same group, Saudi Arabia secured a 4-0 win over Thailand thanks to goals by Rakan Al Anaze (43th), Mansour Al Muwallad (60th), Ayman Al Khulaif (68th) and substitute Abdulrahman Ghareeb (90th).Tournament action continues today with two matches each in Groups ‘C’ and ‘D’.