DOHA: Qatar opened their AFC U23 Asian Cup Qatar 2024 Group A campaign with a convincing 2-0 win over Indonesia at the Jassim bin Hamad Stadium on Monday.
Qatar took the lead just before the halftime break through Khaled Ali’s penalty, with Ahmed Al Rawi scoring the second with a stunning free-kick after Indonesia were reduced to 10 men a minute into the second half.
Qatar pressed Indonesia right from the get-go with Hashmi Al Hussain testing the ‘keeper in the third minute.
The young Maroons continued to find openings, but neither Mostafa Meshaal nor Mahdi Salem could beat goalkeeper Ernando Ari with their efforts in the 14th and 17th minutes respectively.
Al Rawi should have opened the scoring just before the half-hour mark following a counter-attacking move, but the Al Rayyan forward couldn’t get his shot on target.
Indonesia, however, began to find their footing and Qatari keeper Youssef Abdullah was forced into action by a Muhammad Ferarri header in the 36th minute, before Rafael Struick struck the upright three minutes later.
A foul by Indonesia captain Rizky Ridho on Salem, however, proved costly as Qatar were awarded a penalty after a VAR review, with Ali converting the spot-kick in added time.
Indonesia started the second half on an aggressive note but were dealt a blow when Ivar Jenner was given his marching orders after picking up his second yellow card seconds into the restart.
It became worse for Indonesia in the 54th minute when Witan Sulaeman fouled Meshaal some 30 yards out, with Al Rawi making up for his first-half miss with a sublime free-kick that curled past the defence and into the bottom right corner.
A downside for Qatar, however, were injuries suffered by both scorers Ali and Al Rawi which could make them doubtful for Thursday's match against Jordan while Indonesia lost Ramadhan Sananta after a VAR review saw the referee replace an initial yellow card with a red for the substitute’s wild lunge on Mohammed Aiash.
