Action from the match between Qatar and Saudi Arabia which was played at the Aspire Dome yesterday. Picture: Othman Iraqi

By Sports Reporter/Doha

After a splendid start to the game, Qatar imploded in a spectacular fashion as they went down 1-4 to Saudi Arabia in their opening game of the GCC Under-17 football championship at the Aspire Dome yesterday.
Mohamed Mansour Mali was the star of the night for Saudi Arabia, with the midfielder’s hat-trick spearheading the visitors’ fightback as the hosts fell apart after their initial promise.  
It was expected to be a tough game for Qatar, with Saudi Arabia being the most successful team in the championship, having won the title four times at the GCC level. But it was Qatar, who took the lead in just the fourth minute.
Hashem Ali Abdullatif cashed in on defensive lapses from Ali Albarraq Alassaf and Ali Mohamed Alshikhi as he beat the Saudi defenders and slotted past the goalkeeper Hashem Alasmari with a fierce left foot shot.
After the early setback, Saudi players looked shocked and committed too many mistakes in the midfield, giving away the ball too easily. But Qatar failed to make any use of it, shooting the ball off target from well outside the box. Only Abdullatif looked threatening for the hosts, and he almost doubled the lead in the 22nd minute but his effort was saved by Alasmari.
By then, Saudi players had calmed their nerves and began to play much freely and the results showed immediately. In the 32nd minute, Saudi found the equaliser.
In what looked like an innocuous long ball from the Saudi box, Qatar defenders were caught napping by an alert Dari Sayyar Alanzi, who pounced on the ball and controlled it expertly before flooring goalkeeper Saoud Mansour Alali and slotting into the right side of the net.
That goal was the kind of the lift the Saudi team needed and at the other end, Qatar players’ shoulders drooped and their defence was exposed threadbare. Mali who had missed a couple of tough chances gave Saudi the lead in the 39th minute, after he took advantage of an out-of-position Qatar defence and beat the charging goalkeeper.
It soon became 3-1 in the favour of the Saudi team in the 42nd minute, with Mali again in the act. This time though Qatar captain Saleh Said Bnhilali was the culprit, giving away ball too easily as Mali beat the outstretched hands of Alali with a right foot flick.
It was an amazing turnaround as three goals had come in ten minutes. In the second half, all Saudi needed to do was tighten the defence and once they did that it was quite an upheaval task for the hosts.
Qatar did come close a couple of times, but so did Saudi. Mali deservingly scored the hat-trick after a rebound off Qatar goalkeeper to seal the host’s fate.
In their second and final Group B game, Qatar will face UAE on Monday, while Saudi also take on UAE tomorrow.
Earlier, in the tournament opener Oman beat Kuwait in a Group A match. Thamer al-Zeabi gave Oman the lead in the 29th minute, and five minutes later Mustafa al- Bakri made it 2-0. Kuwait’s consolation goal came in the 83rd minute after a strike from Mohammed al-Shiwari.