JEDDAH - The Saudi Under-19 national team started its qualifying round of the AFC U-19 Championship 2010 with a 5-1 victory over Afghanistan at the Franso Hariri Stadium in Erbil, Iraq, Thursday.
The two-time title champion (1986 and 1992) Saudis were keen to score as many goals as it could since the group includes other strong teams like Kuwait, Iraq, Oman and India.
Midfielder Yehiya Deghriri put the Saudis in the lead in the 22nd minute. Some 12 minutes later, the scorer was brought down in the area. Abdullah Otaif scored from the spot in the 36th minute.
Afghanistan scored through Mohammed Siddiq two minutes after the break.
In the 60th minute, Muhanned Al-Farsi scored the third goal for the Saudi team. Ten minutes later, Yasser Al-Fehmi benefited from a defender’s mistake to make it 4-1. From a foul outside the area, Al-Fehmi sent the ball to the left corner of the Afghani goalkeeper to seal the win.

Nasr to face Ahli in final
For the second consecutive year in the competition’s new edition, Al-Nasr and Al-Ahli qualified to the final of the Saudi Federation Youth Cup, after defeating Al-Ittifaq and Al-Hilal respectively in the semifinals Thursday.
At Abdullah Al-Dabl Stadium, Al-Nasr edged host Al-Ittifaq 3-2 while Al-Ahli defeated its guest Al-Hilal 2-0 at Prince Sultan Bin Fahd Stadium in Al-Ahli Club Jeddah.  
The final will be played next Thursday (Nov.12) at Al-Nasr Stadium in Riyadh. – SG