By Mohammed al-Kibsi
Yemen’s senior soccer team advanced to the finals of the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship after won over Pakistan 4-0 on Friday.
This won brought smile to the worried Yemeni faces that suffer from the ghost of a civil war economic hardship, miserable humanitarian situations, and political tensions for the past 6 months.
The majority of Yemen soccer fans could not follow up the matches of their team because there was no power in most parts of Yemen.
Yemen and Kuwait advanced to the finals of the 2012 AFC U-16 Championship as the curtain came down on qualifying Group B on Friday, with wins over Pakistan (4-0) and the UAE (3-1) respectively.
Yemen advanced to the finals, finishing top of the Group B standings following a comfortable 4-0 win over Pakistan at the Mohammed Al Hamad Stadium.
Mohammed Al Dahi opened the scoring in the 41st minute with the first of his two penalties, adding a second from the spot in the 72nd minute after Abdulhakim Ahmed had made it 2-0 to Yemen five minutes into the second-half.
Gehad Ahmed capped the win in the 84th minute, nine minutes after Pakistan had been reduced to ten men with the sending off of Zeeshan Muhammad.
The UAE were still very much in contention for a place in the tournament proper and took the early initiative at the Ali Sabah Al Salem Stadium, with defender Rashed Sulaiman opening the scoring after nine minutes.
Nawaf Marzouq struck a minute from half-time to ensure the two Gulf sides went into the interval on an even keel but Kuwait quickly gained the upper-hand in the second period, with Naji Al Ajmi giving the hosts a 49th minute lead before substitute Bandar Bourslee sealed the win with Kuwait's third a minute from full-time.
Afghanistan finished third after ending their impressive campaign with a 9-0 hammering of the Maldives.
The Indian Ocean islanders, who had lost all five of their previous Group B games, restricted the scoring to a 39th minute Qader Zamen goal in the first-half before the Afghans ran riot after the interval.
Zamen added four more goals to his individual tally (51st, 61st, 74th and 92nd) while fellow forward Mohammad Reza Rezaie weighed in with a brace (56th and 76th).
Hiyat Zia Hussain and Hussain Mehrab also got their names on the scoresheet with goals in the 79th and 84th minutes respectively as Afghanistan finished above the UAE on goal difference.
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