Asian Cup last 16: Jordan through after lastgasp double as Qatar survive scare
Jordan advanced to the Asian Cup quarter-finals after two stoppage-time goals secured a 3-2 win over Iraq, who had striker and the tournament's top scorer Aymen Hussein sent off late on for his goal celebrations on Monday.
Iraq looked destined to move into the last eight when the clock struck 90 minutes but Jordan’s Yazan al-Arab equalised in the 95th before Nizar alRashdan scored two minutes later with a glorious long-range effort to break Iraqi hearts. Jordan will now face tournament debutants Tajikistan in the last eight.
“The confidence that we have made us believe we could come back and this is what we’ve done,” Jordan’s coach, Hussein Ammouta, told reporters. “In added time we came back, we equalised and we exploited Iraq being down one man. We have a strong mentality and we have to maintain it so we can go further in this tournament.”
Jordan went ahead on the stroke of half-time when Yazan al-Naimat pounced on a sloppy pass and raced past the defence. The 24-year-old chipped the ball over goalkeeper Jalal Hassan to score before celebrating with his teammates by sitting on the turf and pretending to eat a meal.
Iraq struck back in the 68th when Saad Natiq headed home from a corner before Hussein scored eight minutes later when he controlled a cross and fired into the bottom corner. The joy of scoring his sixth goal of the tournament quickly turned to shock when the referee produced a second yellow card for excessive celebrations after the striker mimicked Jordan’s players and sat on the turf, pretending to eat by himself.
“In a big tournament like the Asian Cup you cannot exclude a player after celebrating a goal. The same happened in the first half with the Jordanian players [celebrating] and the referee didn’t take any action,” Iraq’s coach, Jesus Casas, told reporters. “The problem was in the timing of this red card. It took place after we had used all our substitutions, so it was a very difficult situation. We didn’t have the chance to make any changes inside the pitch.”
While Iraq fumed, Jordan took full advantage of the extra man and when Mousa Tamari’s stoppage-time effort was parried by Hassan, Arab was on hand to fire home the rebound.
The comeback was complete when midfielder Rashdan was left unmarked outside the box and curled his shot past the keeper to spark wild celebrations in the stands among the Jordanians while the Iraqis sat in stunned silence.
Tempers flared at the post-match press conference when more than a dozen Iraqi journalists walked out while pointing fingers at Casas and shouting at him, with security and officials stepping in to lead them away when some approached the coach. “Concerning my future, I’m calm and our goal is to qualify for the 2026 World Cup,” Casas said. “Anything might happen and I’m very calm.”
Meanwhile, defending champions and hosts Qatar survived a scare to beat Palestine 2-1 and advance to the quarter-finals thanks to goals from Hassan Al-Haydos and Akram Afif at Al Bayt Stadium on Monday.
Despite Qatar starting as firm favourites on home turf in front of nearly 64,000 fans, it was an industrious Palestine side that looked more promising in attack in the first half and they were rewarded for their perseverance in the 37th minute. Palestine stole the ball off Qatar high up the pitch before Oday Dabbagh embarked on a solo run and shot past keeper Meshaal Barsham into the bottom corner for his third goal of the tournament and the country’s first ever in the knockout stage.
But the Qatar captain Al-Haydos equalised with the last kick of the half when he latched onto Afif’s low cross from a corner and fired it home through two defenders and keeper Rami Hamadeh.
Qatar then took the lead five minutes after the break when Almoez Ali was brought down by a late sliding tackle from Mohammed Saleh and Afif stepped up to score from the spot for his fourth goal in as many games at the tournament. Palestine had a few chances to equalise but lacked the finishing touch as Qatar held on. They will return to Al Bayt for a quarter-final against either Uzbekistan or Thailand.