23 Jan 2018
Changzhou, 23 January 2018: Tough luck for Qatar’s U23 national team: Their hopes of reaching the AFC U23 Championship China 2018 final were dashed after falling 4-3 on penalties to Vietnam in the semi-finals on Tuesday.
Qatar led twice thanks to goals from Akram Afif (39’) and Ali Almoez (87’), only for Vietnam to equalise on both occasions to push the game into extra time with a 2-2 draw. Despite the loss in penalties, the 21-year-old Afif was optimistic of the future. “I hope we will learn from our mistakes. We will continue to do our best in the future. But we will play for third now, where we will do our best. I hope we can achieve a good result.”
In their last championship appearance Qatar is going to face Korea Republic on Friday (11am Qatari time) to battle out the 3rd place.
Source: www.the-afc.com