A 90th-minute own goal by defender Walid Abbas handed Iraq a 1-0 win over the United Arab Emirates on Saturday to raise the defending champions' hopes of reaching the quarterfinals of the Asian Cup.
The game appeared to be heading for a goalless draw before Younus Mahmood fired a ball in from the right and Abbas diverted it past his own goalkeeper.
The win puts the 2007 winners second with three points in Group D, behind Iran on six. The UAE and North Korea have one each heading into the final games on Wednesday.
Iraq plays North Korea in its final game, while the UAE is up against Iran, which sealed its progress to the knockout stage with a 1-0 win over North Korea earlier on Saturday.
''When you score in the 90th minute, and it's an own goal, it's a little bit lucky,'' Iraq coach Wolfgang Sidka said. ''But the good thing was we tried to force our luck.
''We increased the risk by bringing on another striker so we had three up front, and I think we got the reward.''
Despite the win, Sidka, who took over in August, faced some awkward questions in his post-match news conference after defender Basem Abbas apparently criticized the German coach before the game.
''Are you married?'' Sidka asked a journalist who quizzed him about Abbas' remarks. ''You should. Sometimes you have problems, but you keep your problems at home. Sure we have small disagreements, but the important thing is to solve them between us and we did.''
Abbas was clearly devastated at the final whistle after his mistake condemned the UAE to an unfortunate defeat after it had matched its opponents for most of the match.
The UAE's Slovenian coach Srecko Katanec said he would tell his defender to keep his ''head up.''
''It can happen to every player, this is part of football,'' Katanec said. ''We must work and look forward. This is already in the past. Qualification is difficult, honestly, but we must try.''
Just as it did in a 0-0 draw with North Korea in its opening game, the UAE showed plenty of skill and endeavor against Iraq, but lacked a cutting edge up front.
Even when Katanec's side did threaten to take the lead, the goal frame got in the way. Hamdan al-Kamali flicked a header onto the far post in the 23rd minute, and in the second half, Ismail al-Hammadi cut inside his marker only to see his fierce shot come back off the bar.
But Iraq created the better chances in a lively game at a sparsely populated Al-Rayyan Stadium, and also hit the woodwork twice.
Nashat Akram's header hit the underside of the bar from a corner in the 39th minute, and five minutes later Qusay Muneer's swerving shot smacked Majed Naser's left post.
Defender Saeed Samal had two excellent headed chances in the second half, but put the first one over the bar and the second just wide.
Iraq's persistence finally paid off just as the clock hit 90 minutes. A cross from the left floated over UAE defender Yousef Jaber's head, and Younis drove it back across goal for the unlucky Abbas to apply the final touch.
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Lineups:
United Arab Emirates: Majed Naser, Khalid Sebil, Hamdan al-Kamali, Walid Abbas, Yousef Jaber, Amer Abdulrahman, Sabait Khater, Ali al-Wehaibi (Mahmoud Khamis, 74), Ismaeil Matar (Amir Mubarak, 84), Ismail al-Hammadi, Ahmed Khalil (Saeed al-Kas, 68).
Iraq: Mohammed Kassid, Ahmed Ibrahim, Samal Saeed, Ali Erhaima, Mahdi Kareem, Qusay Muneer, Nashat Akram, Ala'a Abdulzehra (Mustafa Kareem, 74), Hawar Mohammed (Jasim Kerrar, 61), Emad Mohammed (Baseem Abbas, 64), Younus Mahmood.
