Heartbreak for UAE Under-16s

The UAE juniors bow out of the AFC Under-16 championship after a 3-0 thrashing by Iran.

The UAE juniors bowed out of the AFC Under-16 championship after a 3-0 thrashing by Iran in last night's semi-final in the Uzbek capital Tashkent. It was a disappointing day for the Gulf nation after the senior team was pounded 4-1 by South Korea in their World Cup qualifier in Seoul. However, the U-16 side made most of their opportunity to reach the last four after they were made eligible to play in place of Yemen, who were disqualified for fielding an overage player. The UAE upset Australia 3-2 to reach the semis. Meanwhile the UAE youth team suffered further humiliation when they were beaten 2-0 by Morocco in the friendly quadrangular at the Zayed Sports Stadium as part of their preparation for the Asian Youth Cup. It was their second defeat and now they face the embarrassment of finishing without a point when they face leaders Saudi Arabia in tonight's final match of the round robin league. Morocco went ahead three minutes from time through Bilal Bayat, who added a second to his name from the spot in injury time to bounce back from their 2-1 defeat with Saudi Arabia in the opener. Mohammed Abdulla Abu Zaban and Yahya al Suhairi fired second half goals for Saudi Arabia to defeat Uzbekistan 2-1. They need only a draw to claim the quadrangular shield and go on a high for the Asian Youth Championship which they host from October 31. [e-mail]