We're through: Khalfan Ibrahim Al Khalfan (R) was on target twice on a heady night for Qatar (photo credit: Getty images)

Nine pm in Doha, Saturday 9 December. Within minutes of the news spreading across the Qatari capital, cars cruised the Corniche, horns blazing, maroon flags fluttering in the wind.

The reason? Qatar 3, Thailand 0&and the football-mad Doha 2006 hosts through to their first ever Asian Games men's football semifinals.

And how. Brace ace Khalfan Ibrahim Al Khalfan was the hero - netting goals either side of the break in a game controlled by the home side and played in a fervent atmosphere in front of an expectant crowd, which included HH The Heir Apparent Sheikh Tamim Bin Hamad Al-Thani at Al-Gharrafa Sport Club.

Classy Qatar proved too strong for a Thai side previously unbeaten in the tournament but unlocked by the precise passing of a confident Qatari team.

Al Khalfan opened his account in the 26th minute but Thailand, forced to defend deeply for long periods, held it at 1-0 to half time. Qatar weren't to be denied though. They kept up the pressure and soon reaped the rewards. Al Khalfan latched onto a rebound to tap in his second goal in the 50th minute, which was quickly followed by a third from Abdulla Obaid Koni, who wrong-footed Kosin Hathairattanakool to flick the ball neatly past him in the 52nd minute.

Qatar coach Dzemaludin Musovic was delighted. "If you look at all four games we have played we deserved our win and our place in the semifinals. Especially today. My team played very well, we got a good goal early on."

Defending champions IR Iran sneaked through a tense tight encounter with revitalised China at Al-Rayyan Sports Club.

Arash Borhani beat the offside trap and dummied past China keeper Wang Dalei to put them ahead. But China levelled after the break when Feng Xiaoting scored from a 51st minute corner. China were soon down to 10 men though when Zhu Ting was shown a red card in the 63rd minute for a dangerous foul.

China edged ahead eight minutes into extra time when Zhou Haibin slotted in a shot from the edge of the box. But IR Iran responded immediately when Hosseini Koshkebejar latched onto a long ball and blasted a shot past the keeper.

In the resulting penalty shoot-out Zhao Ming was the unfortunate Chinese player to miss  cracking his effort against the woodwork to trigger wild scenes of joy from the Iranian players and their large contingent of fans.

"I dedicate the goal to all Iranian people and to the crowd, said jubilant Iranian goalscorer, Borhani, afterwards.

(Credit: Doha 2006. Click here for further information.)