Aden (South24) 

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Hundreds of football fans in the capital, Aden, in South Yemen, celebrated the arrival of the national junior team today after it won the West Asian Junior Championship on 20 December for the second time in its history.

The victorious football team passed through the main street of Al-Mualla District in Aden by bus, after traveling hundreds of kilometers over several days from the Sultanate of Oman, where this year’s West Asian Championship was held.

#BREAKING

The national junior team arrived in the capital, Aden, after winning the West Asian Championship (video)#south24 pic.twitter.com/jqsAneo2YH

— South24 | English (@South24E) December 30, 2023

Adeni players of the national team raised the championship cup and the flags of South Yemen in overwhelming joy among the crowd, who chanted the names of the players.

The President of the Southern Transitional Council and Member of the Presidential Leadership Council, Aidrous Al-Zubaidi, received the junior national team delegation before honoring and awarding them.

Al-Zubaidi receives the national team delegation in Aden, December 30, 2023 (official).

The energized West Asian Junior Championship match resulted in a 1-1 draw between the Yemeni junior team and its Saudi counterpart before heading to penalties, ending in a 3-2 victory for Yemen. 

This is the second time Yemeni champions have defeated Saudi Arabia in this tournament, after achieving the same in the 2021 iteration in Dammam.  

Residents in South Yemen and North Yemen enthusiastically celebrated the victory despite the country’s ongoing war, which is approaching the end of its ninth year.