Australia kept their 100 percent World Cup qualifying record intact with a last-gasp 1-0 win over Bahrain on Wednesday, while Group One rivals Japan secured a crucial 3-0 victory in Qatar.
The result left the Socceroos with nine points from three wins out of three and Japan in second two points adrift, with Qatar on four points after four games. Bahrain and Uzbekistan remain locked at the bottom on one point.
In Group Two, Iran were left frustrated after coming away with just a point after drawing 1-1 against the United Arab Emirates, but South Korea were left happy after posting a 2-0 away win over Saudi Arabia.
PHOTO: AP
South Korea moved to top spot in the group on seven points from three matches, Iran in second on five, and North Korea and Saudi Arabia locked for third spot on four points. The UAE remain winless in fifth and final place.
The top two teams in each group in the Asian qualifiers will claim automatic berths for the 2010 World Cup, while the third-placed teams will play each other home-and-away with the winner advancing to the inter-confederation play-off with New Zealand.
In Manama, Australia left it late against Bahrain, the all-important goal coming three minutes into injury time, and against the run of play, when Palermo midfielder Marco Bresciano beat a couple of defenders to shoot past goalkeeper Sayed Jaffer.
“Bahrain played very well and we didn’t but we were lucky to get these three points. We did not deserve it. We would have been happy with one point,” Australia’s Dutch coach Pim Verbeek said.
“It was a top game but we never really had any control over this game. I tried to change a few things in the second-half as we were running backwards in the first,” he said.
A rejuvenated Japan outclassed Qatar in Doha with Tatsuya Tanaka, Kieji Tamada and Tulio Tanaka scoring for a comprehensive 3-0 win to energize their campaign after a lackluster 1-1 home draw with Uzbekistan earlier had prompted calls from some critics for coach Takeshi Okada’s sacking.
“We always expected to win but we thought it would be a close match,” Okada said.
Bruno Metsu, under whom Qatar have now conceded seven goals in two World Cup qualifying games, admitted his players were outclassed.
“We didn’t play well at all,” the Frenchman said. “We didn’t create many chances, nor did we defend properly.”
In Group Two, Iran’s plans of getting full points against hosts UAE were dashed when they were held to a 1-1 draw.
The visitors were completely dominated at the Al Maktoum Stadium and it was only a late goal against the run of play which fetched them a point.
They also had goalkeeper Seyed Rahmati to thank for several magical saves.
The UAE, who lost two key players, Ali Abbas and Subait Khater, even before the match began when they were penalized for breaking the team curfew, took the lead in the 19th minute through their captain Abdulraheem Jumaa.
Fittingly, it was Iran captain Karim Bagheri who restored parity for his side in the 80th minute.
Shohei Ohtani and Clayton Kershaw on Friday joined their Los Angeles Dodgers teammates in sticking their fists out to show off their glittering World Series rings at a ceremony. “There’s just a lot of excitement, probably more than I can ever recall with the Dodger fan base and our players,” manager Dave Roberts said before Los Angeles rallied to beat the Detroit Tigers 8-5 in 10 innings. “What a way to cap off the first two days of celebrations,” Roberts said afterward. “By far the best opening week I’ve ever experienced. I just couldn’t have scripted it any better.” A choir in the
The famously raucous Hong Kong Sevens are to start today in a big test for a shiny new stadium at the heart of a major US$3.85 billion sports park in the territory. Officials are keeping their fingers crossed that the premier event in Hong Kong’s sporting and social calendar goes off without a hitch at the 50,000-seat Kai Tak Stadium. They hope to entice major European soccer teams to visit in the next few months, with reports in December last year saying that Liverpool were in talks about a pre-season tour. Coldplay are to perform there next month, all part of Hong Kong’s
Shohei Ohtani, Teoscar Hernandez and Tommy Edman on Thursday smashed home runs to give the reigning World Series champions the Los Angeles Dodgers a 5-4 victory over Detroit on the MLB’s opening day in the US. The Dodgers, who won two season-opening games in Tokyo last week, raised their championship banner on a day when 28 clubs launched the season in the US. Dodgers manager Dave Roberts shuffled his batting lineup with all four leadoff hitters finally healthy as Ohtani was followed by Mookie Betts, then Hernandez and Freddie Freeman in the cleanup spot, switching places with Hernandez. “There’s a Teoscar tax to
Matvei Michkov did not score on Monday, but the Philadelphia rookie had a hand in both goals as hosts the Flyers earned a 2-1 victory over the Nashville Predators. Ryan Poehling and Jamie Drysdale got the goals for the Flyers (31-36-9, 71 points), who won their third straight. Michkov and Travis Konecny assisted on both. Ivan Fedotov stopped 28 shots to earn his first win since March 1, ending a personal six-game losing streak. Zachary L’Heureux got the lone goal for Nashville. Michael McCarron and Brady Skjei got the assists for the Predators (27-39-8, 62 points), who have just four goals in their
RSS