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| March 3, 2006 | Friday | Safar 2, 1427 |
Asian Cup Soccer: India on the ropes, Iraq upset China
SINGAPORE, March 2: India’s Asian Cup dreams lay in tatters on Wednesday after a 3-0 qualifying defeat at home to Yemen, while beaten 2004 finalists China failed to break down a stubborn Iraq.
But it was better news for Hong Kong who scored a crucial away victory against Bangladesh.
Yemen went ahead in the sixth minute when Salem Abdullah fired home a powerful long range drive before poor Indian defending allowed Fekri Al Hubaishi to make it 2-0 just before half-time.
They made it 3-0 ten minutes after the break when Naduparambil Pradeeps clumsy challenge on Al Hubaishi gave Yemen a penalty which Al Nono cooly converted.
In Al Ain in the United Arab Emirates, China were beaten by Iraq 2-1.
Mahdi Karim gave the lead after 15 minutes before Tao Wei drew China level nine minutes into the second half, only to see Bassim Abbas snatch the winner with 23 minutes remaining.
Singapore had the chance to go top of the group with a draw or win against the Palestinian territories later Wednesday but a 1-0 defeat left them in second. Palestine earned their three points to a 75th minute goal from Fahed Attal.
In Dhaka, Hong Kong scored a late winner courtesy of midfielder Chan Siu Ki to anchor Bangladesh firmly to the bottom of the Group F table.
Only the top two teams go through from each group, with further qualifying rounds on Aug 16, Sept 6, Oct 11 and Nov 15.
Later Qatar saw off Uzbekistan 2-1 in Doha to take over as leaders of Group F.
Results
GROUP A
India 0 Yemen 3
GROUP B
Taiwan 0 Syria 4
GROUP C
Oman 2 Jordan 0
Pakistan 1 UAE 4
GROUP D
Kuwait 0 Bahrain 0
GROUP E
Palestine 1 Singapore 0
Iraq 2 China 1
GROUP F
Qatar 2 Uzbekistan 1
Bangladesh 0 Hong Kong 1
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