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.