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Iraq advance to quarterfinals of AFC Asian Cup

Xinhua, January 20, 2015 Adjust font size:

Iraq defeated Palestine 2-0 and reached the quarterfinal stage of the 2015 AFC Asian Cup here on Tuesday.

The 2007 Asian Cup Champion dominated the field well but missed plenty of scoring opportunities in the first half.

Ahmed Yaseen drove the ball in the 23rd minute to the edge of the box and passed it to Dhurgham Ismael, who kicked the ball into sky.

Palestine goalkeeper Tawfiq Abuhammad produced a string of saves to keep his side maintain the best first half ever in the Asian Cup.

The first goal almost came in the 41st minute as Iraq striker Younis Mahmoud's powerless header was easily caught by Abuhammad.

Younis broke the ice in the 48th minute with a header on a corner kick.However, he missed the penalty chance to expand the lead in the 59th minute.

Ismail Alamour got close to the equalizer for Palestine in the 65th minute when his curving ball was finding the bottom left hand corner of the goal, but went wide.

With Palestinians exhausted due to Canberra's heat and humidity, Yaseen added the fatal blow with a powerful shot, sealing the 2-0 win.

Iraq will face the Group C leader Iran in the quarterfinals on Friday.

Endi