Teen striker Harib Abdullah keeps UAE's World Cup dreams alive

Harib Abdullah maintained the UAE’s dream of playing at the Qatar 2022 World Cup after scoring the goal that gave them a shock win over South Korea in Dubai.

The teenage striker was making his first start for the senior team, and was filling in for the most prolific goalscorer anywhere in the world in qualification for Qatar, with Ali Mabkhout out suspended.

And yet he showed no sign of nerves or inexperience as he coolly dispatched the only goal of the game which gave the hosts the points they needed to confirm third place in the group, in the third round of Asian qualifying.

The result means UAE will now face Australia in a one-game play-off in June. Win that, and they have a last-chance play-off against the fifth-placed side from South American qualifying for the right to play at the World Cup.

By the time of kick off, Lebanon’s faint hopes of making it into third place had been extinguished by a 2-0 defeat in Iran.

That left UAE – starting out with a single-point advantage - and Iraq in a two-way shoot out, in matches taking place simultaneously about 10kms apart in Dubai.

On the other side of Dubai Creek, Iraq were pitted against last-placed Syria at Rashid Stadium in Al Qusais, while at Al Nasr’s home ground in Oud Metha, UAE faced the might of Son Heung-min and Co.

There was nothing tangible on it for the visitors, who were on an unbeaten run stretching back a year. Qualification for the World Cup had long since been secured.

And yet, in the lead up to the game, coach and players alike had said the job was not done yet: they wanted to finish the group in first place.

Lebanon’s loss to Iran did have a bearing on that. It meant, by the time the time Caio Canedo got play under way at the Maktoum Stadium, South Korea