UAE, South Africa tie in FIFA U-20 World Cup match

Faiza Ahmed
For Al-Shorfa.com
2009-10-02

UAE player Saad Surour (R) and South Africa's Thulane Ngcepe during the FIFA U-20 World Cup in Alexandria on Sept. 27. (Khaled Desouki/AFP/Getty Images)

ALEXANDRIA, Egypt — UAE's opening match against South Africa at the FIFA U-20 World Cup soccer tournament being hosted by Egypt ended on a truly exciting note. The UAE dramatically reversed a 2-0 score at the 90th minute and finished with a 2-2 tie. For most of the match, however, UAE under-performed, missing many opportunities at the goal, and making numerous fruitless passes.

Playing in Group F, the UAE did succeed in thrilling fans at the end of the match when team captain Hamdan al-Kamali, and Theyab Awana scored the final two goals, earning them a tie.

The UAE team may have concluded that it would lose the match after South African player Erasmus scored his second goal in the 72nd minute. Sports commentators said that while South Africa did not play its best game, the team was in control for almost the entire match.

In the 90th minute, UAE’s al-Kamali scored his team’s first goal with a penalty kick, and Awana managed to score the second goal with a header in the third minute of overtime, just seconds before the match ended.

A number of UAE sports commentators said that the dramatic events at the end of the match did not compensate for all the lost opportunities early in the match.

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