Syria hold UAE, Australia and Japan post wins in WC qualifiers

Gulf today Report

Mahmood Albaher scored an equaliser in the second half as Syria came from behind to hold the UAE to a 1-1 draw in their 2022 World Cup qualifying match.

The UAE played out second successive draw in their third round of the World Cup qualifiers.

The prolific striker Ali Mabkhout had broken the dead lock in the 12th minute to put the UAE ahead. After that, the UAE created many chances but failed to convert them into goals.

The UAE were leading 1-0 at the half-time. But after the break, Syria pulled one back through Albaher in the 64th minute.

Both the teams tried hard to add to their scores, but failed to penetrate the water-tight defence of each other as the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

With the draw, the UAE moved to the third spot in their Group with two points from as many games.

The UAE came into the third round on the back of four consecutive wins. But, they failed to recreate the same magic in the final round so far.

In their opening match of the final round of the showpiece event, they were held to a goalless draw against Lebanon at the home turf.

Meanwhile, Yuya Osako scored the only goal as Japan bounced back from their surprise loss to Oman on the opening matchday in Group B of the Asian Qualifiers for the 2022 World Cup with a 1-0 win over China PR at Doha’s Khalifa International Stadium on Tuesday.

Hajime Moriyasu’s team had few concerns on their way to a victory over a Chinese side that offered little threat despite an improved performance in the second half, and Li Tie’s side remain without a point having also lost their opener against Australia last week.

Japan pick up their first points and the win will have lifted some of the pressure that was growing on head coach Moriyasu after the disappointing performance on home soil against Branko Ivankovic’s side on Thursday.

Meanwhile, Australia made it two wins from two in their World Cup qualifiers campaign after Rhyan Grant’s first-half header proved enough to see off Vietnam 1-0 at My Dinh Stadium on Tuesday.

A Kwon Chang-hoon strike on the hour saw Korea Republic pick up the first win of their World Cup, defeating Lebanon 1-0 at a saturated Suwon World Cup Stadium on Tuesday.

After a goalless first half that saw Lebanon goalkeeper Mostafa Matar make a series of stunning saves, Suwon Samsung Bluewings midfielder Kwon netted the tie’s only goal for a final score that did not truly reflect the home side’s dominance against an opponent they had twice met in the previous round of qualifying.