Bahrain juniors hit six past Nepal in Asian U-20 qualifiers

TDT | Manama                                                                        

The Daily Tribune – www.newsofbahrain.com

Bahrain’s junior national football team romped past their counterparts from Nepal 6-0 last night to claim their first victory of the Group B qualifiers for the AFC U-20 Asian Cup 2023, being held in the Kingdom.

Skipper Abdulla Al Khalasi and Sayed Ali Naser were both on target in the first half for the hosts, while Abdulrahman Gadban, Abdulla Alsubaiei and Mubarak Mohammed Habib all netted home after the break, with Alsubaiei scoring a brace.

The Bahrainis improved to four points on the division table, where they are ranked behind first-placed Qatar who crushed Bhutan in yesterday’s other group game, also with a 6-0 score line. Al Khalasi opened the scoring for Bahrain with a 19th minute penalty.

The hosts were awarded the spot kick after Nepal defender Sumit Shreshtha handled the ball in the area. Al Khalasi sent his effort into the right of the net with a left-footed strike past Nepal goalkeeper Jiyarat Shekh.

Naser then made it 2-0 four minutes before the break. A cross from the left was left uncollected by Shekh and then Salem Isa Aldoseri picked out Naser deep in the box. Aldoseri sent in a low pass and Naser needed only to tap the ball home.

After the re-start, the home side tripled their lead in the 67th minute with a long header by Gadban from the edge of the penalty area. Alsubaiei then had back-to-back goals in the 83rd and 88th minutes, before Habib applied the final nail in the coffin in the first minute of second-half stoppage time.

The qualifiers continue tomorrow with Bangladesh playing Qatar at 6pm, followed by Bahrain taking on Bhutan at 9pm.