Uzbekistan became the first and only team to storm into
Asia's final ten-team round with two games to spare after they
picked up their fourth straight win, 1-0 over Singapore at Tashkent
on Saturday. At the same time, Lebanon and Turkmenistan had their
qualifying hopes shattered following their respective losses to
Saudi Arabia and Korea DPR.
A pair of leading teams failed to snatch the full points to
progress as expected, with Bahrain only managing a 1-1 home draw
against Thailand, while Australia suffered their first defeat,
losing out to Iraq 1-0.
In group 3, the two teams from the Korean peninsula remained
level at the top on eight points following their respective 1-0
wins, with Korea Republic leading their northern neighbours on goal
differences. Elsewhere, a 1-0 victory over hosts United Arab
Emirates moved Iran top ahead of Syria, who will play their game
against Kuwait on Sunday.
Results of matchday 4:
Group 1: China 0-1 Qatar; Iraq 1-0 Australia
Group 2: Oman 1-1 Japan; Bahrain 1-1Thailand
Group 3: Jordan 0-1 Korea Republic; Korea DPR 1-0
Turkmenistan
Group 4: Uzbekistan 1-0 Singapore; Lebanon 1-2 Saudi Arabia
Group 5: United Arab Emirates 0-1 Iran; Kuwait-Syria (8 June)
Game of the day
Uzbekistan 1-0 Singapore
Goal: Alexander Geynrikh 80'
Having crushed Singapore 7-3 in their previous match,
Uzbekistan would have been supremely confident to tame the Lions
with another emphatic victory when they played hosts in Tashkent.
However, Singapore gave a much better account of themselves
throughout the match until second half substitute Alexander
Geynrikh scored the only goal with ten minutes to go.
Sixteen minutes after he was sent on, Geynrikh eased the home
crowd's worries by netting the winner. An onrushing Server
Djeparov was tackled by Singapore forward Shi Jiayi but the loose
ball fell into the path of Geynrikh, whose blistering shot from the
edge of the area gave goalkeeper Lewis Lionel no chance.
Surprise of the day
China 0-1 Qatar
Goal: Sebastian Soria 14' (penalty)
It seemed that history repeated itself as Qatar came away
with a 1-0 win over China in Saturday's crunch tie. During
qualifying for Italy 1990, Qatar came from one goal down to score
twice within the closing three minutes to defeat China 2-1, a
result which cost China their first-ever qualification for the FIFA
World Cup™ finals. Eight years later, Qatar pulled off a 3-2 away
win against China in a crucial qualifier for France 1998.
In a match that neither side could afford to lose in Tianjin,
it was again the visiting Qatar side that prevailed over hosts
China by a solitary goal, Sebastian Soria converting a spot kick
after 14 minutes. China twice came close to opening the scoring
within the first 11 minutes, with Gao Lin's first-minute volley
grazing the left post before Zhu Ting's back-heel shot hit the
woodwork. However, the penalty kick proved the deciding strike of
the game, which saw Qatar defended the lead into victory. The win
pulls Qatar level on seven points with leaders Australia, while
China, with three opening draws and the defeat, are left on the
brink of elimination at the bottom.
Player of the day
Emad Mohammed
Saudi Arabia's Redha Tukar may have emerged the
only player who completed a brace, but Emad Mohammed stole the show
through his sparkling display. The diminutive though dynamic
striker, renowned for scoring crucial goals, once again proved his
status as Iraq's potent weapon. In their quarter-final clash
against Australia at Athens 2004, Mohammed scored a spectacular
goal from a bicycle kick to earn Iraq a famous win. And after
rattling the woodwork with a fierce shot against Australia in the
last match at Brisbane, the Sepahan forward scored the only goal on
28 minutes to keep Iraq's hopes still alive.
Goal of the day
Ferydoon Zandi 8'
It was a critical moment for Iran as they entered the
match against hosts UAE as the group's third placed team
following three opening draws. The absence of suspended Andranik
Teymourian as well as the injured Mehdi Mahdavikia and Ali Karimi
made life extremely hard for Ali Daei's men, who were under
pressure to gain their first win. Despite all these difficulties,
it was German-based Zandi who rose to the occasion. After Madoud
Shojaei's through ball found him one on one with the UAE
goalkeeper Majed Naser, the left-footer kept his cool to lob the
ball over Naser and into the back of the net.
The numbers game
6: The number of matches which ended in a 1-0
score. Pragmatic strategy dominated tonight's actions as six of
the seven wins were decided by a solitary goal, leaving Saudi
Arabia the only team who won by scoring more than one goal.
What they said
"China were only lucky to secure a goalless
draw against us in the last match in Doha so before this match I
had thought that we could win if we didn't give them too many
chances. Throughout the match our players demonstrated good
disciplined play and determination for the win. We had made a
proper game strategy which eventually carried us through."
Jorge Fossati, Qatar coach
Uzbekistan storm into last ten
(FIFA.com) Saturday 7 June 2008