Mabkhout’s goal has now taken him to the top of the competition’s scorer’s charts with three goals in two games
By Ashley M. Hammond
Dubai: UAE striker Ali Mabkhout has staked a claim to the fastest goal in Asian Cup history with his 14 second opener in a 2-1 win over Bahrain on Thursday.
Jaycee John cancelled out Mabkhout’s early opener on the half hour before the UAE were handed victory by a Mohammad Hussain own goal on 73 minutes.
Mabkhout’s goal has now taken him to the top of the competition’s scorer’s charts with three goals in two games.
There have only been two other goals scored within the first minute of an Asian Cup match; Kuwait’s Fathi Kameel against China in 1976 and China’s Xie Yuxin against Japan in 1992. However, records only detail the first minute and not the amount of seconds. Asian Cup organisers have yet to verify if Mabkhout’s effort is the fastest.
With this win the UAE are now through to the quarter-finals of the tournament for the first time in almost 20-years, after a 4-1 opening win over Gulf Cup champions Qatar last Sunday.
Next up the UAE will play Iran on Monday to confirm final positions in the group. Iran beat Qatar 1-0 in today’s other Group C fixture.
