China beats Jordan, Saudis out
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E-mail Shanghai Daily, March 1, 2012
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China's Hao Junmin (left) beats a Jordan player for the ball during their 2014 World Cup Asian qualifier in Guangzhou, Guangdong Province, yesterday. China won 3-1 but did not progress to the next round after finishing third in the group. |
Midfielder Hao Junmin scored the opening two goals to set up China's 3-1 consolation win over Jordan in yesterday's World Cup qualifier.
There was little at stake in the game with China unable to progress to the next round and Jordan already through.
Hao, the former Schalke midfielder who now plays for Shandong Luneng, opened the scoring in the 43rd minute and doubled that advantage in the 69th.
Jordan pulled a goal back through Basem Fathi in the 85th minute but Yu Dabao made sure of the win in the 88th.
It was another disappointing qualifying campaign for China, which finished behind Jordan and Iraq in Group A.
Elsewhere, Saudi Arabia crashed out of World Cup qualifying with a 2-4 away loss to Australia, while Oman progressed to the final round of Asian qualifiers at its neighbor's expense.
Both Oman and Thailand were chasing a victory they needed to reach the next round, knowing a draw would not have been enough for either team. Midfielder Hussain al-Hadhri opened the scoring in the 10th minute for Oman and then midfielder Adbul al-Muqbali made sure of the victory in the 90th minute.
In other games, Uzbekistan won 1-0 at Japan in a clash of the top teams in Group C, and Tajikistan secured its only point of third-round qualifying by drawing 1-1 at home against another also-ran in North Korea.
Going into the final day of round three qualifiers, Saudi Arabia was a point ahead of Oman and two points ahead of Thailand, with the latter two playing in a simultaneous game, and the Saudis looked like progressing when they led 2-1 entering the final 20 minutes of the match in Melbourne.
However Australia scored three times in four minutes to turn the match on its head, and drop Saudi Arabia down to third in the group behind Oman.
