UAE football team book ticket to 2012 Olympics

UAE's national under-23 football team created history when they scored a spectacular 3-2 victory against Uzbekistan in Tashkent to book their berth in the London Olympics 2012.

The visitors required only a draw to advance from the Asian Olympic qualifiers but Mahdi Ali's men staged a remarkable fightback to overturn a 2-0 deficit and finish top of Group B.

Al Ahli striker Ahmed Khalil scored two brilliants goal in quick succession to cap a spirited performance by the Emiratis who will be participating in the Olympic football tournament for the first time.

It is the biggest achievement of the UAE football team since they qualified to the 1990 World Cup and is some consolation for their failure to qualify for the 2014 event in Brazil.

Substitute Haboosh Saleh struck three minutes into stoppage-time to seal a memorable victory for UAE.

The UAE were in the Group B driving seat going into their final fixture of the third preliminary round of Asian qualifiers having garnered 11 points form their five matches compared to Uzbekistan's eight.
 
But with a win for the Uzbeks seeing them usurp the UAE for the Olympic ticket, the pressure was well and truly on the Emiratis as avoiding defeat in Tashkent was no easy task.
 
Vadim Abramov's men took control of Wednesday's match at the Jar Stadium as a 34th minute Oleg Zoteev strike followed by a Fozil Musaev effort two minutes after the interval made it look like Uzbekistan were London-bound.
 
But the match turned on its head in a dramatic four-minute spell with a quick-fire brace from Ahmed Khalil (51st and 55th) putting the UAE back on top of the Group B standings.
 
The draw would have been sufficient for the UAE but Haboosh Saleh, who ironically replaced Khalil in the 70th minute, scored a dramatic late winner to rub salt into the wounds of the Uzbeks, who must now negotiate the three-team play-offs if they are to participate in the Olympic Games for the first time.

Meanwhile, Japan also booked their place at the London Olympics with a 2-0 win over Bahrain on Wednesday, earning the country a shot at its third major title in a row.

Second-half goals from Takahiro Ogihara and Hiroshi Kiyotake were enough to put the 1968 bronze medallists through with already qualified South Korea and UAE, who won a five-goal thriller against Uzbekistan.

Syria, Oman and Uzbekistan will contest the Asian play-offs in Vietnam this month after finishing runners-up in the three groups.

Elsewhere Australia rounded off their failed campaign with a goalless home draw against Iraq, meaning Aurelio Vidmar's men played all six qualifiers -- some nine hours of football -- without scoring once.

South Korea, who had qualified with a game to spare as winners of Group A, stayed unbeaten heading into the London-based contest with a 0-0 draw against Qatar in Seoul.

Syria made certain of the play-offs with a 3-0 win over Malaysia. They were joined by Oman, who drew 1-1 with Saudi Arabia, and Uzbekistan, whose hopes of automatic qualification were dashed after a 3-2 defeat to UAE in Tashkent.

The hosts were two goals up at half-time, which would have been enough to supplant the Group B leaders, but an Ahmed Khalil double put UAE back in control before Saleh Haboosh hit the winner deep into injury time.

In Tokyo, Urawa Red Diamonds midfielder Genki Haraguchi crossed for Cerezo Osaka's Ogihara to open the scoring for Japan 10 minutes after the break.

And there was to be no way back for Bahrain, who had harboured faint hopes of reaching the play-offs, when Kiyotake netted four minutes later.

Japanese confidence will be high after their senior national team secured the Asian Cup early last year, followed by a historic World Cup title for the nation's women.

"I have a lot of players with potential. We qualified for the Olympics, but this is merely a start," said Japan's coach Takashi Sekizuka. "It was really tough to get through the Asian qualifying rounds. I feel relieved."

Iraq's draw in Gosford meant they finished ahead of Australia in third spot in Group B with five points, and the hosts were consigned to bottom place.

It is be the first time since 1984 that Australia will not be represented in football at the Olympics. Iraq finished fourth in Athens in 2004.

Football is played at under-23 level at the Olympics, although each team can pick up to three senior players.

Oman, Uzbekistan and Syria will contest the Asian play-offs in Vietnam from March 25-29, with the winner facing Senegal in England's Coventry on April 23.
 
 

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