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UAE enter quarters

Ahmed Khalil showed the form that has seen him become an established member of the UAE senior national team as he scored a hat-trick in a 4-0 victory over Vietnam at Zibo Sports Centre Stadium on Friday.

The emphatic win sent the AFC U-19 Championship title holders to the quarter-finals.

All three of Khalil’s goals came in the first 30 minutes before Omar Abdulrahman converted a second-half penalty as Juma Rabeeh’s side produced their best performance of the tournament to join Group C winners Japan in the last eight. While Vietnam only needed a draw to progress, UAE needed nothing less than victory. It took UAE just six minutes to open the scoring as Khalil latched onto a pass just inside the area and with Tan Anh Duc rushing from his goal line, the talismanic forward prodded a shot beyond the goalkeeper’s left and the ball was helped on its way into the net by a Vietnam defender.

The South East Asians almost served up a swift response as Trinh Hoa Hung delivered a wicked cross in the 19^th minute that found Nguyen Van Quyet completely unmarked inside the area but the defender sent the powerful header straight to Ahmad Mohammad.

Instead it was the UAE who scored a second four minutes later when Rashed Hassan Ali broke down the right before crossing to the feet of Khalil who side-footed home despite the attention of a Vietnam defender.

The insatiable Khalil then put the game beyond Vietnam when he completed his hat-trick in the 27^th minute as he again combined with Hassan Ali, powering home from close range when picked out by the Al Shabab midfielder.

The UAE maintained their dominance at the start of the second half as Hassan Ali fired wide after 48 minutes before Salem Saleh’s shot was blocked by Anh Duc and Mubarak Abdulla’s effort was charged down after he had scythed through the Vietnam defence.

But the UAE wrapped up the victory with 15 minutes remaining when Saleh was felled just inside the area by Anh Duc and Abdulrahman coolly dispatched the resulting penalty with the goalkeeper diving the wrong way.

Two goals from Ryo Nagai helped Japan complete their AFC U-19 Championship Group C campaign with a perfect record following a 3-0 win over Jordan at Linzi Stadium.