Hiiraan Online
Saturday, February 13, 2016
MOGADISHU (HOL) – Somalia’s under-11 national team made an impressive showing in Qatar’s Jeem Cup, however the young team was held in draws in all three matches they played.
The host Qatar became the latest team the Somali national team played Friday, in a tight match which saw the Somali team subdued multiple attempts by Qatari strikers to score a one advantage goal to advance after the 3-3 draw.
However, the Qatari team escaped a disappointing defeat after the match’s referee had awarded them with two controversial penalties that sports analysts said had gone beyond reason, giving two equalizers for Qatar.
One of the penalties was awarded to the Qatari team as result of a player who apparently tripped over the stadium’s turf near Somali team’s goal line.
The Somali team which had its third match drawn dominated the match, and exploited apparent Qatar defence vulnerabilities with effective and fast attacking tricks that created a number of goal scoring chances.
The team was earlier held in two draw matches by UAE and Saudi Arabia.
Having eliminated from the ongoing Jeem cup, the young national team which unlike the older national team which regularly returned with disappointing defeats avoided conceding any defeat was praised for stopping better-advanced and sponsored teams.
The excellent performance by Somalia’s young national team has united Somalis around the world in football pride, a positive news for the horn of Africa nation which has grown weary with news of their older national team returning with embarrassing losses each year.