SANAA, 23 February 2006 — Saudi Arabia crushed Yemen 4-0 in their opening qualifying match for the 2007 Asian Cup yesterday.
The opening goal came from Saudi striker Ahmad Al-Suwailh in the 15th minute. Midfielder Muhammad Al-Shalhoub followed with the second goal in the 77th minute.
Suwailh scored the third goal in the 88th minute. Al-Shalhoub then made it 4-0 in the second minute of injury time of the match played at the main stadium of Sanaa
The Yemeni team kept fighting well forward near the Saudi goal, but the Saudi goalkeeper Muhammad Al-Daeeya foiled all their attempts to score.
Holders Japan thrashed India 6-0 in their opening 2007 Asian Cup Group A qualifier yesterday. Fellow World Cup qualifier South Korea also won 2-1 in Syria. But 2004 runner-up China had to battle against the Palestinian territories.
Japan proved why they are going to the World Cup in Germany and China are not.
Other Asian World Cup-bound teams also had solid victories, with South Korea posting a gutsy 2-1 win over Syria in Aleppo, Iran trouncing Taiwan 4-0 in Tehran.
Zico’s charges were in irresistible form against the Indians, who put up a game fight in the first half but collapsed under sustained pressure in the second.
The opening goal came from former Feyenoord midfielder Shinji Ono in the 32nd minute, handing Zico the 100th goal since he took charge following Japan’s successful 2002 World Cup campaign. Ono also scored the first goal of the Zico era.
In contrast China, who reached the final in Beijing in 2004 only to lose to Japan 3-1 in a bad-tempered match, made a meal out of the Palestinians in their Group E encounter.
Du Wei scored in the 23rd minute and Li Weifeng made it 2-0 in the second half but it was a far from convincing display against a side ranked 63 places below them.
The recent form of the Palestinians should have rung warning bells — last week they beat 2004 semifinalists Bahrain 2-0 and followed it up with a comfortable 3-0 victory over Pakistan. In Aleppo, South Korea, minus their European-based stars, ground out a morale-boosting Group B victory over Syria thanks to goals from Kim Do-heon and Lee Chun-soo as they work to win their first Asian Cup since 1960.
Elsewhere, Uzbekistan thrashed Bangladesh 5-0 in a Group F clash, giving new coach Valeri Nepomniatchi, who took over last month, a winning start to his reign. Bangladesh’s task was made more difficult by the suspension of their Argentine coach Diego Cruciani, who had to watch from the stands after he attacked the referee following his side’s December clash against Pakistan.
In another Group E game, Southeast Asian champions Singapore got the better of Iraq, sealing a 2-0 victory with goals from Khairul Amri and Noh Alam Shah.
— With input from agencies
