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.