Qatar will have to wait until Friday to know whether they will be going to the Olympics as they crashed to a heart-breaking 1-3 defeat against South Korea in the semi-finals of the AFC U23 Championship yesterday.
The South Koreans will now face Japan in the final on Saturday after Japan defeated Iraq 2-1 earlier in the day.
Goals in the 89th and 96th minutes from Kwon Chang-hoon and substitute Moon Chang-jin took the South Koreans to victory after the hosts had cancelled out Ryu Seung-woo’s 49th minute strike through Ahmed Alaeddin’s goal in the 79th minute.     
Qatar still have a chance to qualify for the 2016 Olympics but for that they will have to defeat defending champions Iraq in the third-place playoff on Friday. The top three teams in the U23 tournament qualify for the Olympics later this year in Rio de Janeiro.



Koreans celebrate after they set up a title clash with Japan.

Yesterday’s encounter at the Al Sadd stadium was a stop-start affair with neither team able to dominate proceedings. The first half was particularly scrappy and didn’t see a single shot on target. But there were moves that could have provided goals for either team. Qatar came the closest in the 10th minute when an Ahmed Moein freekick landed perfectly for Moez Ali but the resulting header was wide. Ali got a chance again in the 18th minute when the ball fell to him inside the box but his shot deflected off a defender for a corner.
In the second half, South Korea scored right at the start because of a goalkeeping error. Qatar keeper Muhannad Naim has had a good tournament so far, having pulled off some good saves. So it was uncharacteristic for him to come way out of his box to defend a long ball from deep inside the South Korean territory. Ryu Seung-woo, who was lurking dangerously up front, had the presence of mind the direct the ball towards the goal from almost 40 yards out. Qatar defender Tameem Mohamed set off in chase but could not stop the ball from going into the goal.
The goal gave South Korea confidence and they were seeing more of the ball. Naim, after his earlier blunder, kept Qatar in the game with crucial saves. The first one was in the 55th minute when he saved a strong, low shot from Kim Hyun.  
Then Qatar started to regroup and build attacks. Ali Asad came very close to the equaliser in the 63rd minute but his header, towards the near post, was saved by South Korea keeper, Kim Dong-Jun. Then it was the turn of Naim to save another shot from Hyun.  
Qatar were looking more and more threatening. In the 73rd minute, Ahmed Alaeddin got a brilliant through pass from Ahmed Yasser after the defender produced a great run down the middle. But the Qatar striker flayed his shot wide.
But just six minutes later, Alaeddin redeemed himself when he scored the equalizer. Defender Musaab Khidir ran down the right flank and then delivered an accurate cross to Alaeddin inside the box and the striker put the ball in the back of the net. The Korean keeper should have saved that as the ball went through his hands. This goal puts Alaeddin at the top of the goal-scoring charts with five.
Qatar were now on level terms and it was their turn to dominate proceedings. In the 89th minute, Akram Afif produced a strong run down the middle but lost the ball right on the edge of the box.
And then came the decisive moment. In the 89th minute defender Lee Seul-Chan provided a great cross for Kwon Chang-hoon and the midfielder scored with ease. The Qatar defence was caught napping there as no one noticed the run from Chang-hoon.
And then to rub salt into the wounds, South Korea were able to add a third goal in the 96th minute of the game through substitute Moon Chang-jin.

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