FIFA to investigate Bahrain-Indonesia result

Football’s world governing body FIFA is to investigate Bahrain’s World Cup victory over Indonesia on Wednesday.

Bahrain won the game 10-0, having needed a nine-goal swing in goal difference to leapfrog Qatar.  Bahrain were eliminated anyway after Qatar earned a 2-2 draw in Iran.

A statement on FIFA’s web site reads: “Given the unusual outcome in relation to the results-expectation and head-to-head history, and in the interests of maintaining unequivocal confidence in our game, FIFA Security will conduct a routine examination of the Bahrain vs. Indonesia game and its result.”

Indonesia fielded an inexperienced side in Bahrain, with several players suspended by the country’s FA over their involvement in the breakaway Indonesian Super League.

During the game, Indonesia had their goalkeeper sent off in the second minute and Lebanese referee Andre El Haddad awarded Bahrain four penalties, though only two were scored.

Crowd violence mars Asian second round

Asian 2nd round, 2nd leg:

 Bangladesh 2-0 Lebanon  (2-4 on aggregate)

 Burma 0-2 Oman  (abandoned due to crowd trouble) (0-4 on aggregate)

 Hong Kong 0-5 Saudi Arabia  (0-8 on aggregate)

 India 2-2 United Arab Emirates  (2-5 on aggregate)

 Indonesia 4-3 Turkmenistan  (5-4 on aggregate)

 Kyrgyzstan 0-3 Uzbekistan  (0-7 on aggregate)

 Laos 1-6 China  (3-13 on aggregate)

 Malaysia 1-1 Singapore  (4-6 on aggregate)

 Maldives 0-1 Iran  (0-5 on aggregate)

Nepal 1-1 Jordan  (1-10 on aggregate)

 Palestine 2-2 Thailand  (2-3 on aggregate)

 Philippines 1-2 Kuwait  (1-5 on aggregate)

 Tajikistan 0-4 Syria  (1-6 on aggregate)

 Vietnam 2-1 Qatar  (2-4 on aggregate)

 Yemen 0-0 Iraq  (0-2 on aggregate) (played in the UAE)

The qualifying match between Burma and Oman had to be abandoned due to crowd violence.  Oman had just taken a 2-0 lead in the second leg, thanks to a disputed penalty when the crowd in Yangon began to pelt the referee, visiting players and Oman manager Paul Le Guen with bottles and stones.  The trouble continued during the second half and the players were forced off  the field before full-time.  Zaw Zaw, President of the country’s football federation appealed for calm but his appeals fell on deaf ears, causing the match to be abandoned.

With the qualifying draw just two days away, it is highly unlikely FIFA will order the match to be replayed and it looks almost certain Oman will advance to the group stage.  Meanwhile, Burma could face severe consequences following the violence and could be forced to play future qualifying matches behind closed doors or at a neutral venue.  That is if they escape a ban from the governing body.

The rest of the line-up for Asia’s group stages was completed on a day that saw over 80,000 passionate Malaysian fans go home disappointed after their side was edged out by Singapore.  Trailing 5-3 from the first leg, Mohd Sali’s second half strike put Malaysia one goal away from an away goals victory but Jia Yi Shi’s goal on 73 minutes calmed Singapore’s nerves and saw them through to Round 3.

Palestine had a frantic finish to their match with Thailand.  1-0 down after the first leg, Palestine scored an early goal, only for Thailand to equalise before half-time.  It looked set to stay that way until a burst activity late on which saw both teams score and Palestine’s Khadir Yosef sent off.

The football fever that has gripped the Philippines in recent weeks is set to disappear for now as the Azkals bowed out of the competition at the hands of Kuwait.  Trying to overturn a 3-0 deficit, Stephan Schrock’s goal on the stroke of half-time gave the home fans hope.  But Kuwait fought back in the second half, scoring twice, despite being reduced to ten men, to seal a 5-1 aggregate victory.

Indonesia held off a late fightback by Turkmenistan to book their place in the next round.  After the first leg ended 1-1, Indonesia stormed to a 3-0 half-time lead, thanks to two goals from Uruguay-born Cristian Gonzalez.  With ten minutes to go, Turkmenistan found themselves 4-1 down and down to ten men, but managed two goals in quick succession to ensure a nervous finish for the home side.  Indonesia held on and are the only unseeded team to go through to the group stages.

Bangladesh, Vietnam, India, Yemen and Nepal all restored some pride after heavy first leg defeats, while China, Iran, Uzbekistan, Saudi Arabia and Syria all completed comfortable aggregate victories.

No surprises in Asia as Round 2 begins

Asian 2nd round, 1st leg:

 China 7-2 Laos 

 Iran 4-0 Maldives

 Iraq 2-0 Yemen

 Jordan 9-0 Nepal

 Kuwait 3-0 Philippines

 Lebanon 4-0 Bangladesh

 Oman 2-0 Burma

 Qatar 3-0 Vietnam

 Saudi Arabia 3-0 Hong Kong

 Singapore 5-3 Malaysia

 Syria 2-1 Tajikistan

 Thailand 1-0 Palestine

 Turkmenistan 1-1 Indonesia

 United Arab Emirates 3-0 India

 Uzbekistan 4-0 Kyrgyzstan

There were no surprises as the second round of qualifying got underway in Asia.

The matches saw a number of past qualifiers enter the fray, including Iran, Saudi Arabia and China.

It was China who came closest to a shock defeat, as they found themselves 2-0 down at home to Laos after just half an hour.  It looked like a huge upset was on the cards but the introduction of substitute  Yang Xu turned the game in China’s favour.  He scored on the stroke of half-time and went on to complete a hat-trick in the second half as China eventually ran out 7-2 winners.

The game of the day came in Singapore where south-east Asian rivals Malaysia went ahead in the first minute before the hosts powered to a 4-1 lead at half-time.  Malaysia fought back in the second half, scoring twice in the space of a minute to make it 4-3 with 20 minutes left to play.  But it was Singapore who had the last laugh when Bosnian-born 40-year-old Aleksandar Duric, a former Olympic canoeist, scored his second goal of the game to give Singapore a 5-3 win.

Thailand dominated their game against Palestine but were wasteful in front of goal and will be disappointed to only lead 1-0 after the first leg.  An injury time penalty miss summed up Thailand’s night and Palestine will remain hopeful of reaching the group stage.

Iraq played their first World Cup qualifier at home in almost a decade and treated their fans to a 2-0 win over Yemen.

The biggest winners of the day were Jordan who put nine past Nepal, Hasan Abdel Mahmoud scoring four.

India found themselves reduced to nine men after just 23 minutes against the United Arab Emirates.  The UAE scored from the resulting penalties but could only manage one goal in the second half, despite their two-man advantage.

Iran were 4-0 winners against the Maldives.  A comprehensive victory, though not as comprehensive as their first World Cup meeting back in 1997, when Iran won 17-0.

Saudi Arabia have suffered a major dip in form in recent years but got off to a winning start against Hong Kong and will take a 3-0 advantage into the second leg.

Azkalitis has gripped the Philippines in recent weeks but former qualifiers Kuwait look like eradicating the fever after a 3-0 win.

2022 qualifiers Qatar also won 3-0, leaving Vietnam with a mountain to climb to reach the next round.

Uzbekistan had an encouraging run to the semi-finals of the Asian Cup in January and are off to a confident start, beating Kyrgyzstan 4-0.

Syria beat Tajikistan 2-1 but the visitors will take a valuable away goal into the second leg.

Lebanon bounced back from their humilating midweek friendly defeat against the UAE (see video below) by beating Bangladesh 4-0, while Oman scored a goal in each half to beat Burma 2-0.

The only seeded team not to win was Turkmenistan, who finished with ten men as they were held to a 1-1 draw by Indonesia on what looked to be a shockingly bad pitch.

The second leg matches are all scheduled to take place on Thursday.