China’s World Cup bid hit by Syrian strike
Print Edition
CHINA’S bid to reach its second-ever World Cup was dented when Syria pulled off a stunning 1-0 qualifying upset in Xi’an yesterday.
Mahmoud Al-Mawas’s breakaway goal in the 54th minute settled a gritty game which left China stranded on one point from its first three games in Group A.
Seventy-eighth ranked China has ambitions of hosting a World Cup, but Al-Mawas dented its hopes of reaching the tournament for a second time at Russia 2018.
The bustling, bearded forward latched onto a long ball and prodded his first touch past on-rushing goalkeeper Gu Chao before controlling the bouncing ball into the net.
Syria should have made the game safe in the 73rd minute but Omar Kharbin managed to miss an open goal from Al-Mawas’s inviting cutback.
Syria, despite playing its home games at neutral venues because of the conflict in its country, now climbs above China in Group A to draw level on four points with mighty Iran, which plays Uzbekistan later.
In Seoul, Tottenham forward Son Heung-min scored the winning goal to help South Korea come from behind and beat Qatar 3-2.
Son curled in a shot in the 58th minute for his sixth goal in six games.
Swansea midfielder Ki Seung-yeung had put South Korea ahead in the 11th minute, but Qatar got goals from Hasan Al Haydos and Sebastian Soria to lead 2-1 at halftime.
Ji Dong-won equalized for South Korea in the 56th, two minutes before Son scored the winner.
South Korea now has seven points from three games in Group A, while Qatar is last with zero after three losses.
The top two teams in Groups A and B will qualify automatically for the World Cup, with the two third-place teams going to a fourth-round match to decide which of them makes the intercontinental playoffs.
In Saitama, substitute Hotaru Yamaguchi’s 95th-minute winner rescued Japan and its stuttering World Cup qualifying campaign as it escaped with a 2-1 victory over Iraq.
Japan dominated the early possession but rarely threatened.
The Blue Samurai were headed for an ignominious draw when Yamaguchi smashed a loose ball from a corner through a forest of legs and into the Iraqi goal.
The result gave Japan its second win in three final-round qualifiers and boosted under-fire coach Vahid Halilhodzic, who has endured calls for his resignation and has suffered reported player unrest.
It also lifts Japan’s hopes of reaching a sixth straight World Cup at Russia 2018 as it draws temporarily level on points with Group B pace-setters Australia and Saudi Arabia, who face each other later.
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