Masoud Habibi, Al Ahamad Mansory and Mohammad Ahmadi scored a goal each as Afghanistan opened their Saff Under-19 Championship campaign with a 3-1 win over Maldives here at the Anfa Complex on Friday.

The victory meant Afghanistan lead the Group ‘B’ standings with three points with tournament favourites India yet to open their campaign.

The two teams meet in the next Group ‘B’ match at the same venue on Sunday. Top two teams from each of the two pools qualify for the semi-finals. Nepal lead the Group ‘A’ table with three points after a 3-1 win over Bhutan on Thursday.

Habibi gave Afghanistan a huge psychological edge going into the break as he put his side ahead by scoring in the  first minute of injury time. Mansory doubled their lead in the 71st minute before Ahmadi put the issue beyond doubt by adding the third for the Afghans. Maldives skipper Hammad Ali pulled one back five minutes from time but it was too litte and too.

Afghanistan coach Hayatulladh Logarwal said his side played below par and hoped to improve in the next game. Despite the defeat Maldives coach Athif Mohamed was pleased with the performance of his boys. “I am happy with the way they played against a phsycially strong  opponents like Afghanistan,” said Mohamed.