Jong double helps North Korea beat Lebanon; Oman pip India

Captain Jong Il-gwan was a two-goal hero as North Korea beat Lebanon 2-0 in their opening Asian Qualifiers Group H match for the FIFA World Cup 2022 and AFC Asian Cup China 2023 on Thursday.

Syria, Malaysia, Jordan and Palestine also secured wins from their respective groups while Thailand, Vietnam shared spoils as Oman rally to beat India.

The tie between North Korea and Lebanon was a rematch of when the two teams met in the AFC Asian Cup UAE 2019 last January with Lebanon securing a 4-1 win over the East Asians.

However, North Korea had gathered a steady momentum coming into the Qualifiers after emerging champions in the 2019 Intercontinental Cup two months ago. Playing in front of their home crowd at the Kim Il Sung Stadium in Pyongyang, Yun Jong-su’s side only took seven minutes to take the lead with Jong opening the scoring.

The visitors returned into the second half looking to salvage a goal, but it was North Korea who found the back of the net, with skipper Jong doubling the score in the 56th minute.

Lebanon head coach Liviu Ciobotariu sent on Omar Chaaban shortly after, before Rabih Ataya and Mohamad Kdouh came onto the pitch in the 76th and 84th minutes respectively but North Korea held on to secure a vital win.

In another match, Syria turned on the power as they saw off the Philippines 5-2 to open their campaign emphatically.

The home team enjoyed a dream start at the Panaad Stadium in Bacolod City with Javier Patino giving them the lead to send the fans into raptures.

Syria, however, were far from demoralised as they came charging back and Omar Al Soma hit the first of his two goals in the 14th minute to draw his side level.

Fajr Ibrahim’s grew into the match from that point on and Khaled Mobayed ensured they held the lead going into the half-time break with his effort at the half-hour mark.

Three minutes into the restart, Syria edged ever closer to the three points as captain Firas Al Khatib widened their lead.

A desperate Philippines pushed forward, only to be hit again as Al Soma found the back of the net again in the 55th minute.

Philippines pulled one back through substitute Mike Ott in the 83rd minute but Mahmoud Al Nawas hit back for Syria almost immediately as he restored their advantage just two minutes later.

Elsewhere, Oman came from a goal down to beat India 2-1 in their Group E tie. Sunil Chhetri had given India a first half lead but the young Rabia Alawi Al Mandhar turned out to be the hero as he scored twice to give Oman the three points.

India started on an aggressive note and kept their foot on the pedal throughout the first half. Ashique Kuruniyan and Udanta Singh led the way early on as they troubled the Oman defenders with their pacy runs.

India came close when Anirudh Thapa found Sandesh Jhingan with his corner kick in the 20th minute but the experienced defender’s header was wayward and India had to wait longer to get their first goal.

It eventually came through skipper Chhetri in the 24th minute following a mistake by the Oman defence as India took the half-time lead.

The momentum changed in the second half as India looked slightly jaded look after their first half exertions.

In the 82nd minute as Mandhar lobbed the ball over an advancing Gurpreet for his first international goal.

The goal gave Oman the confidence they needed and they found one more in the 90th minute as Mandhar secured the points with a spectacular strike from the edge of the box that found the top right corner.

The spoils were shared in Group G’s first ASEAN derby, with Thailand and Vietnam playing out a 0-0 draw.

Mohamadou Sumareh struck deep into added time as Malaysia edged Indonesia 3-2 at a pulsating Gelora Bung Karno Stadium.

Jordan survived a late scare to make a winning start as Vital Borkelmans’ side claimed a 2-1 win over Chinese Taipei in challenging conditions.

Agencies