Teenager Harib Abdullah the hero as UAE beat South Korea to keep World Cup hopes alive

DUBAI: Teenage winger Harib Abdullah was the toast of the UAE on Tuesday after his first-ever international goal proved enough to beat South Korea 1-0 in Dubai and confirm a June World Cup playoff against Australia.

The result means that dreams of Qatar, and a second appearance on the global stage, are very much alive as victory against the Socceroos will mean progress to a final showdown against the fifth-placed team in South America’s CONMEBOL standings, currently Peru.

Abdullah, the 19-year-old Shabab Al-Ahli star, was making his first international start and scored just after the break against the already-qualified South Korea to ensure that the Whites finish third in Group A with 12 points from 10 games.

Iraq, who started the day just a point behind, drew 1-1 with Syria, also in Dubai, to finish three points behind in fourth. 

The Taeguk Warriors arrived at the Al-Maktoum Stadium as the only Asian team still unbeaten in the third round of qualification. Korea had over three-quarters of possession and most of the goal attempts, but were unable to get the goal that would have given them first place in the group above Iran, who had defeated Lebanon 2-0 earlier in the day.

Despite having so much of the ball, the visitors failed to create enough. In the first half, there was little goalmouth action. The only shot on target in the 45 minutes came from Abdullah, though his low effort from outside the area was straight at Jo Hyun-woo.

Hwang Hee-chan came closest to actually scoring, and it would have been a beauty. Khalid Eisa punched a Son Heung-min corner clear of the area, but there was the Wolverhampton Wanderers forward to execute a spectacular sidefoot volley chip that came back off the crossbar.

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