Iraq became the first team to book their place in the quarter-finals of the AFC U-19 Championship Bahrain 2016 on Monday evening as Abbas Atiyah’s side cruised to a 4-0 win over DPR Korea to move to the top of the standings in Group B.

    Waleed Kareem scored twice, Mazin Fayyadh struck from the penalty spot and Alaa Abbas added a late fourth as the Iraqis notched up their second win in a row at the championship to ensure they will finish in the top two places in the group. The result, coupled with their 2-1 loss against Vietnam in their opening match, means DPR Korea cannot progress beyond the group stage. 

    The Iraqis sealed the win thanks to an impressive second-half performance as they turned the dominance they showed in the first period into goals in the final 45 minutes.

    A scrappy opening to the game saw both sides take a physical approach but by the midway point in the period it was the Iraqis who were asserting themselves as both Ameer Sabah and Fayyadh both saw tame efforts comfortably claimed by goalkeeper Ri Chol-song.

    Safaa Hadi curled his shot just over the bar three minutes before the break and Abbas also threatened in the dying minutes of the half, but the scores remained level as the teams went into for the halftime break.

    Eight minutes after the restart, though, Iraq took a deserved lead. Mohammed Kareem’s ball into the middle found Abbas and, after turning to shoot, DPR Korea defender Choe Jin-nam handled the ball while on the ground and referee Turki Al Khudhayr pointed to the spot. Fayyadh converted the penalty, slamming the ball to the keeper's left.

    The goal prompted a response from the Koreans, with Kang Kuk-chol and Han Kwang-song sending attempts just off target, but it came as little surprise when the Iraqis doubled their lead.

    Jasim Mohammed unlocked the Korean defence in the 63rd minute with his ball behind the back line releasing Sabah, and his cut-back from the bye-line gave Kareem the time and space to control the ball before firing home.

    Two minutes later the game was killed as a contest when another through pass from Mohammed caught out the Korean defence, this time freeing Abbas to run in on goal before squaring to Kareem, who rolled the ball into the empty goal.

    Abbas put the icing on the cake for Iraq 11 minutes from time when he beat Ri to Saif Hatem’s long ball forward, flicking his shot past the DPR Korea goalkeeper with just enough pace for it to cross the line.

Source: QNA