UAE thump 9-man India in WC qualifier

The UAE beat nine-man India 3-0 in the first leg of their World Cup qualifier in Al Ain on Saturday.

India went a man down when defender Debabrata Roy was seant off in the 19th minute. Things only got worse for India two minutes later, when Hamdan Al Kamali scored a penalty that resulted in goalkeeper Subrata Pal getting a red card.

The UAE doubled its advantage just before the half-hour mark with another penalty. This time, it was Mohamed Al Shehhi who successfully converted the spot kick.

But even with the two-man advantage, the UAE was made to work by the Indian squad. It only managed to score a third goal eight minutes from time when Ismail Al Hammadi made it 3-0.

The UAE, which has only appeared in the 1990 World Cup, is looking to rebound from a poor run of form which saw it eliminated from this year’s Asian Cup without scoring a goal.

Its attack, however, has improved in recent weeks and it thrashed Lebanon 7-2 recently in a friendly — which included a back-heel penalty kick that became an Internet sensation.

India, meanwhile, continues to struggle to show that its performances can match its economic might in Asia.

It was the laughing stock of the Asian Cup after losing all its matches by a combined score of 13-3. It showed signs of improvement by beating Qatar recently in a friendly but Saturday’s performance was yet another reminder it has way to go if it wants to compete on Asia’s biggest stage.

The return leg will be in India on Thursday.

China smashed six second-half goals past Laos on Saturday for a 7-2 win to put one foot in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.

Lowly Laos gave the home team some nervy moments at Kunming’s Tuodong Stadium when strikes from Soukaphone Vongchiengkham and Visay Phaphouvanin put the visitors two-up after 31 minutes.

But substitute Yang Xu hit back in first half injury time, and it set off an avalanche of goals in the second period as he added two more, with Chen Tao scoring a double off the bench and two late strikes from midfielder Hao Junmin.

China will now be confident of progressing after Thursday’s second leg to the penultimate stage of Asian qualifying, when big guns Japan, Australia and South Korea enter the competition, along with Bahrain and North Korea.

Jordan also enjoyed a bumper goalfest as they beat Nepal 9-0 with Hasan Abdel Mahmoud grabbing four of the goals.

It was a good day for Gulf sides with wins for Qatar, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman.

Qatar, the hosts of the 2022 World Cup, got off to a flying start against Vietnam with Mohamed Kasoula putting them ahead in the sixth minute. Second half goals from Meshal Mubarak and Yousef Ahmad Ali secured a 3-0 victory.

Saudi Arabia beat Hong Kong by the same scoreline with Nassir Al Shamrani grabbing a brace while UAE and Kuwait also managed 3-0 wins as they beat India, who have yet to play in a World Cup finals, and Philippines respectively.

Oman, meanwhile, beat Myanmar 2-0.

The 2007 Asian champions Iraq continued on their way with a 2-0 win over Yemen while Iran were in impressive form as they dispatched Maldives 4-0 - the former Bayern Munich and Schalke midfielder Ali Karimi among the scorers.

In the south-east Asian grudge match, hosts Singapore edged Malaysia 5-3 in an eight-goal thriller 5-3 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.

The visitors made the best possible start as Mohd Safee Bin Mohd Salee put them ahead in the opening minute.

Singapore hit back, though, bagging four before half-time through Aleksander Duric (8), Qiu Li (22), Mustafic Fahrudin (44) and Shi Jiayi (45).

Malaysia were not finished though and two goals in two minutes from Abdul Hadi Hin Yahaya and Sali brought it back to 4-3. However a second from Duric nine minutes from time gave Singapore the win.

The second legs will be played on July 28, ahead of a draw for the third-round group stage which takes place in Brazil on July 30.

Asian World Cup qualifier results

In Kunming
China 7 (Yang Xu 45+2, 54, 73, Chen Tao 52, 88, Hao Junmin 81, 90+1-pen) Laos 2 (Soukaphone Vongchiengkham 5, Visay Phaphouvanin 31)

In Buriram
Thailand 1 (Kaewprom Jakkaphan 18) Palestine 0

In Singapore
Singapore 5 (Aleksander Duric 8, 81, Qiu Li 22, Mustafic Fahrudin 44, Shi Jiayi 45+1) Malaysia 3 (Mohd Safee Bin Mond Sali 1, 71, Abdul Hadi Bin Yahaya 70)

In Beirut
Lebanon 4 (Hassan Maatouk 16, Mahmoud El Ali 27, Ali Al Saadi 55, Tarek El Ali 64) Bangladesh 0

In Ashkhabad
Turkmenistan 1 (Krendelev Vyaceslav 12) Indonesia 1 (Muhammad Ilham 30)

In Tashkent
Uzbekistan 4 (Geynrikh Alexander 28, Bikmaev Marat 48, Djeparov Server 55, Bakaev Ulugbek 90+2) Kyrgyzstan 0

In Arbil
Iraq 2 (Hawar Mulla Mohammed 9, Azam Abdul Kharra 63) Yemen 0

In Tehran
Iran 4 (Karim Ansari Fard 4, Mohammad Reza Khalatbari Limaki 62, Ali Karimi 67, Saeid Daghighi Masouleh 87) Maldives 0

In Amman
Syria 2 (George Mourad 45+1, Raja Rafe 77) Tajikistan 1 (Saidov Kamil 47)

In Amman
Jordan 9 (Hasan Abdel Mahmoud 10, 74, 82, 90+3, Amer Deeb 23, 57, Ahmad Hayel 32, 68, Abdullah Deeb 45+1) Nepal 0

In Kuwait City
Kuwait 3 (Yousef Al Sulaiman 16, Mesaed Al Enezi 68, Fahad Al Ebrahim 84) Philippines 0

In Muscat
Oman 2 (Amad Ali 22, Ismail Al Ajmi 79) Myanmar 0

In Doha
Qatar 3 (Mohamed Kasoula 6, Meshel Mubarak 51, Yousef Ahmad Ali 68) Vietnam 0

In Al Ain
United Arab Emirates 3 (Ismail Hamdan 21-pen, Mohamed Al Shehhi 29-pen, Ismail Al Hammadi 82) India 0

In Dammam
Saudi Arabia 3 (Nassir Al Shamrani 45+1, 47, Osama Al Harbi 45+3) Hong Kong 0
 

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