China beats Cambodia 3-1 in World Cup qualifier
China beats Cambodia 3-1 in World Cup qualifier
GUANGZHOU, China (Agencies): China ensured a berth in the second 2002 World Cup qualifying after it beat Cambodia 3-1 Sunday in the qualifying Group 9 match here.
Midfielder Ma Mingyu got his team on the scoreboard in the sixth minute slamming home a goal from 12 meters (40 feet) out in what many thought was the beginning of a Chinese rout.
But Cambodia came back in the 12th minute as the Chinese attack went too far forward.
Defender Li Weifeng allowed Cambodia's Chea Makara to sprint down the sideline, easily beat goal keeper Jiang Jin and net Cambodia's only shot on goal of the night.
Although China's Xu Yunlong rebounded a Ma's rocket in the 21st minute, giving China a 2-1 lead, the Chinese side looked lackluster the rest of the night and time after time failed to finish its attempts on goal.
The Chinese had 40 shots on goal, with 16 directly at the goalie, as the partisan Chinese crowd in the Guangzhou Stadium began cheering the underdog Cambodian and goalie Soun Dara.
Li Bing finished out the scoring for China in the 87th minute knocking a rebound of his own header off a Chinese free kick.
The win leaves China at the top of the group nine table with five wins and no losses and Cambodia at the bottom with one draw against five losses.
China's last Group 9 match against second place Indonesia, is on May 27 at Bung Karno stadium in Jakarta. Indonesia should win in a wide margin to take over China's position and goes into the final round.
Top team in each of the 10 Asian groups advances to the final qualifying round. Two or three teams from Asia will qualify for the World Cup finals in South Korea and Japan. Both hosts automatically qualify.
In New Delhi, India, India routed Brunei 5-0 in World Cup soccer's Asian Zone Group 8 qualifying match in the southern Indian city of Bangalore on Sunday.
India's victory could only fetch it third place in the group. It finished with 11 points from six matches.
United Arab Emirates topped the group with 12 points to secure entry into the second qualifying round Saturday when it defeated Yemen in its last league match.
India needed a seven-goal victory to move past Yemen - which also has 11 points - to the second spot but fell short to finish third.
Brunei finished at the bottom of the four-team league, losing all six matches.
Playing an attacking game, India took a three-goal lead in the first half through goals by Jules Alberto (13th minute), I.M. Vijayan (23rd) and Baichung Bhutia (37th) before Brunei pulled back all players into its own territory to pack the defense.
Joe Paul Ancheri stretched India's lead in the 59th minute before it began raining and the strikers became tentative in their moves. But it did not stop substitute Abdul Hakim from rounding off the scoring in the 76nd minute.