Qatar U-21 players celebrate after Ahmed Jenahi scored against China U-21 in their Toulon International Championship match played in France yesterday.
DOHA: Qatar yesterday were denied by an injury-time penalty as China forced a 1-1 draw at the Toulon International Championship.
In their Group A fixture which took place at the Stade Marcel Roustan in Salon-de-Provence, Ahmed Jenahi scored in the 15th minute to put Al Annabi on top before Cong Zhen rescued China with a spot-on penalty kick.
Qatari youngsters put pressure on the strong Chinese team from the beginning of yesterday’s match.
Al Annabi players tried to penetrate the Asian counterpart’s defence on several occasions in the first half.
In the 15th minute, Abdullah Murisi shot from the centre of the box after receiving a through pass from Khaled Mohammed but Chinese goalkeeper Fan Jinming was quick enough to spoil effort. Later,
Murisi shot from the right side of the six yard box but the ball whizzed past the cross bar.
Seconds later, Jenahi gave Qatar the lead through a brilliant solo effort by evading the goalkeeper at close range and shooting from the left side of the box to the centre of the goal.
The victory seemed inevitable for Qatar until the last moment before things turned in favour of China.
In the third minute of the injury time, a reckless tackle by Qatar’s Ahmed Suhail resulted in a penalty. Cong Zhen made no mistake and levelled the score with a right footed shot to the bottom left corner to disappoint Qatar after a well-fought battle.
Yesterday’s loss also places Qatar in fourth position behind the rest of the Group A opponents, Mexico, England and China.
Al Annabi will meet England in their final Group match on June 1 and the match will kick-off at 6.30pm Qatar time. The match will be telecast live on beIN Sport.
