(MENAFN- The Peninsula) Fawad Hussain |The Peninsula
Doha, Qatar: Hosts Qatar registered a well-deserved 2-0 victory against Indonesia to get off to a flying start at the AFC U23 Asian Cup at Jassim Bin Hamad Stadium yesterday.
In other match on the opening day, 10-man Jordan held Australia to a goalless draw as both sides shared points at the Abdullah bin Khalifa Stadium.
After an impressive ceremony that marked the official opening of the 16-team tournament, Qatar produced a dominant show, clinching the victory through a spot kick from Khaled Ali in 45+1 minute and a fabulous strike from Ahmed Al Rawi in 54th minute.
Qatar head coach Ilidio Vale was delighted to start the tournament with a victory.
"The players fought hard for this well-deserved victory. We were better in the first half as compared to the second half," he said.
" As I said it earlier, we will take one step at a time and now we will have to focus on our next match which is against Jordan. It will be a tougher challenge for us."
Khaled Ali (second right) celebrates after converting a penalty kick for Qatar's first goal.
Indonesia played most of the second half with 10 men after Ivar Jenner was sent off following his second yellow card soon after the interval.
They lost another player in the stoppage time of the match when Ramadhan Sananta saw his yellow card upgraded to red for a foul against Mohammed Aiash following a VAR check.
Qatar, backed by a good number of home fans, started brightly with Hashmi Al Hussain giving the tournament's debutants an early scare with a header saved by goalkeeper Ernando Ari.
The hosts continued their aggressive strategy with Mostafa Meshaal and Mahdi Salem also coming close to scoring.
After Al Rawi failed to find target in a good opportunity as a result of a counterattack, Indonesia tested Qatar defence through Muhammad Ferarri and Rafael Struick efforts with the latter hitting the post.
Qatar finally got the breakthrough, receiving a penalty after Indonesia captain Rizky Ridho was punished for a foul against Salem following a VAR review.
Khaled netted the opener with a clinical left-footed hit in the centre in added time before the break.
Al Rawi inflicted further blow on Indonesia, smashing a sublime free-kick from around 30 yards that curled past the defence landing into the bottom right corner.
Both Qatar scorers Khaled and Al Rawi suffered injuries in the last 10 minute before Indonesia lost Sananta following a VAR check in sixth minute of stoppage time.
Qatar will now meet Jordan on Thursday at the same venue while Indonesia will hope to secure their first points of the tournament as they will face Australia in their second match at Abdullah Bin Khalifa Stadium.
Meanwhile, Jordan and Australia played out an absorbing game but both the sides failed to find a goal in several scoring chances.
Jordan must be happy to secure a point after their captain Danial Afaneh received second yellow of the match, eight minutes before time.
The top three teams in the tournament will qualify directly to the Summer Olympics in Paris, with the fourth-place team taking on an African team for the final spot.
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