Singapore beat archrivals Malaysia 5-3 in a thrilling, error-strewn match that was the pick of the World Cup Asian qualifiers on Saturday, but events on the field were overshadowed by the lifetime ban handed to Asian Football Confederation president Mohammed bin Hammam.
As a FIFA ethics committee delivered the news of bin Hammam’s punishment for bribing officials, 15 first-leg ties were taking place to determine who would join Australia, North Korea, Japan, South Korea and Bahrain in the third round of qualifying to be drawn in Brazil on Saturday.
Despite the scoreline and their atrocious defending, Southeast Asian champions Malaysia might still have an interest in the draw after a topsy-turvy match at the Jalan Besar Stadium in Singapore.
Photo: AFP
Malaysia needed just 24 seconds to take the lead on the artificial pitch, but they failed to build on that fantastic start and conceded four goals before halftime, much to the delight of Singapore President Sellapan Ramanathan Nathan, who was in attendance.
Both sides were reduced to 10 men at the start of the second half, before two quick-fire goals from the visitors, against the run of play, pulled it back to 4-3.
However, Singapore claimed a fifth late on through their 40-year-old Yugoslavian-born striker Aleksandar Duric to take a two-goal advantage to Kuala Lumpur on Thursday, where 80,000 are expected at the Bukit Jalil Stadium for the second leg.
“It was crazy. Definitely not exciting for me,” Malaysia coach Rajagobal Krishnasamy told reporters. “Football is crazy sometimes, but if we score two goals, do not concede, then we are there. I am confident.”
Enjoying a much smoother evening was former Portugal and Real Madrid manager Carlos Quieroz, who watched from the dugout as Iran cruised to a 4-0 victory over the Maldives in his first competitive game in charge.
Another big name European enjoying managerial life in Asia was former Barcelona head coach Frank Rijkaard, who led regional heavyweights Saudi Arabia to an easy 3-0 win over Hong Kong thanks to three goals in three minutes either side of halftime.
Jordan, who reached the quarter-finals of the Asian Cup in January, produced the attacking performance of the night to thrash lowly Nepal 9-0 to all but assure themselves of a place in the hat for the next round when 20 teams will be divided into five groups.
Bin Hammam’s Qatari compatriots began their bid to qualify for the first time with a solid 3-0 home win over Vietnam at the air-conditioned Al Sadd Stadium.
That score was matched by the United Arab Emirates (UAE), who took advantage of two red cards and two penalties in the first 30 minutes to dispatch India 3-0 at home, and Gulf Cup champions Kuwait, who beat the Philippines.
India’s disappointment at the sendings off resulted in a delay to the game of more than five minutes, but replacement goalkeeper Karanjit Singh was focused enough to produce a string of saves to keep the score down.
There was no place in the UAE starting lineup for Internet sensation Theyab Awana, whose back-heeled penalty against Lebanon last week has been watched by millions of people on YouTube, but attracted negative headlines at home after accusations of showing a lack of respect.
While Oman dispatched Myanmar 2-0, China endured a sluggish start as they fell two goals down at home to Laos inside 30 minutes, with a big shock looking likely.
However, substitute Yang Xu netted just before halftime, the first goal of a hat-trick, with China scoring six more in the second half to ease to a 7-2 victory as the visitors tired under the strain of playing in Kuming, about 1,800m above sea level.
While Laos stumbled there was some joy elsewhere for the continent’s weaker sides, with Lebanon, the lowest FIFA-ranked Asian team remaining at No. 177, enjoying some rare success on the soccer field as they thrashed Bangladesh 4-0 in Beirut.
Uzbekistan, who finished fourth at the Asian Cup in January, matched Lebanon’s scoreline as they crushed neighbors Kyrgyzstan, while 2007 Asian Cup champions Iraq beat Yemen 2-0 in Arbil.
Thailand wasted a number of chances, including a late penalty, in their narrow 1-0 home win over Palestine, while Syria edged out Tajikistan 2-1 at home.
Indonesia, who sacked coach Alfred Riedl last week and replaced him with Dutchman Wim Rijsbergen, survived a terrible pitch to claim a precious 1-1 away draw in Turkmenistan and prevent a clean sweep of home victories on Saturday.
The second legs are scheduled to take place on Thursday.
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