Iraq won a reprieve yesterday that allows them to play their Asian World Cup qualifier against Australia, as a handful of teams fight to stay in the race to South Africa in 2010.
The match had been under threat when FIFA suspended Iraq on Monday after Baghdad dissolved the Iraqi Olympic Committee and all national sport federations.
But a FIFA spokesman said it had since received correspondence from the Iraqi government saying that the Iraq Football Federation was not part of the decree, opening the door for its crucial game on Sunday in Brisbane.
If the game had not gone ahead it would have been curtains for Iraq, with Pim Verbeek’s men already topping Group 1 on four points from two matches.
Qatar are on three points, with China struggling on two and Iraq on one.
Qatar host China on Monday and another loss for the Chinese team could hammer the final nail into their World Cup coffin.
China are perennial underachievers and have so far managed to only draw with Iraq and Australia, making the game in Doha a must-win ahead of the return leg against Qatar in Tianjin on June 7.
After their shock 1-0 loss to Bahrain in March, Asian powerhouse Japan are desperate to make the most of home advantage against Oman on Monday, with coach Takeshi Okada relying on Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura to carry them through.
“I have realized anew his presence, the accuracy of his play and the fact that he is a player with very high ability to read how the game develops,” Okada said of Nakamura.
Surprise table-toppers Bahrain are in Bangkok against a Thai team that has yet to take a point and who can almost certainly wave goodbye to any faint hopes they have of a trip to Africa if they lose.
Group 3 sees South Korea host Jordan in Seoul tomorrow, with Manchester United’s Park Ji-sung keen to showcase his skills after being snubbed by Alex Ferguson in Manchester United’s Champions League final victory over Chelsea.
South Korea currently have four points and are level with North Korea, who travel to basement team Turkmenistan on Monday.
With Uzbekistan securing two wins out of two so far, Saudi Arabia will need to beat minnows Lebanon, who have lost both their matches, at home to keep the pressure on in Group 4.
Uzbekistan play Singapore in the city-state and another victory would put them on the brink of becoming one of the 10 teams that progress to the final round of qualifying later this year.
In Group 5, pacesetters United Arab Emirates have a tough task in Tehran against Iran, while Syria are at home to Kuwait.
Bologna on Thursday advanced past Empoli to reach their first Coppa Italia final in more than half a century. Thijs Dallinga’s 87th-minute header earned Bologna a 2-1 win and his side advanced 5-1 on aggregate. Giovanni Fabbian opened the scoring for Bologna with a header seven minutes in. Then Viktor Kovalenko equalized for Empoli in the 30th minute by turning in a rebound to finish off a counterattack. Bologna won the first leg 3-0. In the May 14 final in Rome, Bologna are to face AC Milan, who eliminated city rivals Inter 4-1 on aggregate following a 3-0 win on Wednesday. Bologna last reached the
If the Wild finally break through and win their first playoff series in a decade, Minnesota’s top line likely will be the reason. They were all over the Golden Knights through the first two games of their NHL Western Conference quarter-finals series, which was 1-1 going back to Minnesota for Game 3 today. The Wild tied the series with a 5-2 win on Tuesday. Matt Boldy had three goals and an assist in the first two games, while Kirill Kaprizov produced two goals and three assists. Joel Eriksson Ek, who centers the line, has yet to get on the scoresheet. “I think the biggest
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Noelvi Marte on Sunday had seven RBIs and hit his first career grand slam with a drive off infielder Jorge Mateo, while Austin Wynn had a career-high six RBIs as the Cincinnati Reds scored their most runs in 26 years in a 24-2 rout of the Baltimore Orioles. Marte finished with five hits, including his eighth-inning homer off Mateo. Wynn hit a three-run homer in the ninth off catcher Gary Sanchez. Cincinnati scored its most runs since a 24-12 win against the Colorado Rockies on May 19, 1999, and finished with 25 hits. Baltimore allowed its most runs since a 30-3 loss to
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