UAE U-23 team sink Lebanon

sharjah — The UAE Olympic team began their journey of qualification for the AFC Under-23 Championship in Thailand in 2020 by swamping Lebanon in the qualifiers on Friday night.

The UAE Under-23 team, who had missed out on the previous edition in China after failing to make the cut at home, ran roughshod against Lebanon, thumping them 6-1 at the Prince Faisal bin Fahd Stadium in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

The UAE, who won the bronze at the Asian Games in Indonesia last year, topped Group D and put themselves in pole position to qualify for the tournament to be held at two venues in Thailand — the Rajamangala Stadium and National Stadium in Bangkok and the Thammasat Stadium and Leo Stadium in Pathum Thani, from January 8 to 26.

The UAE next take on Maldives on Sunday before concluding their campaign against the hosts on Tuesday.

Maciej Skorza’s lads were just too good for Lebanon as they dominated the game right from the get go. Although, they conceded an early goal on 16 minutes, the UAE cancelled that out on 29 minutes. They then took the lead heading into the break after going ahead on 42 minutes.

The second half saw a goal rush with the UAE pumping in four goals, that also included a penalty.

Forty-four teams are taking part in the qualification process in 13 venues across 11 host cities. A total of 16 teams will qualify to play in the final tournament, including Thailand who qualified automatically as hosts. The qualifiers also serve as the first stage of the AFC qualifiers for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan. Three teams from the tournament in Thailand will join hosts Japan at the Olympics.