Malaysia survive thriller to topple Taiwan
Reuters - Sunday 03 July 2011, 18:55
TAIPEI - Malaysia advanced to the second
round of the 2014 World Cup Asian qualifying on Sunday after
surviving a nerve-wracking finale to edge past Taiwan on away
goals with a 4-4 aggregate score.
Southeast Asian champions Malaysia, who will meet arch
rivals Singapore in the next round, conceded three penalties in
a 3-2 defeat in Taipei on Sunday having won the first leg 2-1.
First-half goals from Mohamed Aidil Abd Radzak and Safiq
Rahim had given Malaysia a 2-1 lead and they appeared to be
comfortably heading into the next round before spot-kicks by
Chen Po-liang and Xavier Chen put the hosts ahead to set up a
nail-biting final 15 minutes.
Malaysia goalkeeper Mohd Sharbinee Allawee Ramli had also
saved a 61st-minute penalty from Chen which proved vital.
Vietnam striker Le Cong Vinh followed up his first leg
hat-trick with five goals on Sunday as Vietnam hammered hapless
Macau 7-1 for a 13-1 aggregate victory.
Cong Vinh scored three goals in the first half and added two
more in the second as Vietnam, who will meet 2022 hosts Qatar in
the second round, piled on the misery on Macau after a first-leg
drubbing.
Laos booked a second-round meeting with China after scoring
twice in extra time to defeat Cambodia 6-2 for an 8-6 aggregate
victory.
The teams had been level on aggregate at the end of normal
time after Cambodia had won the first leg 4-2 but goals from
Visay Phaphovanin and Sysomvang Kanlaya put Laos through.
Palestine's 1-1 draw with Afghanistan on Sunday was enough
to send them through to a second-round tie against Thailand
after a 2-0 first-leg victory.
Myanmar defeated Mongolia 2-0 to overturn a 1-0 first-leg
deficit while Nepal set up a second round encounter with Jordan
with an emphatic 5-0 win against Timor-Leste after beating them
2-1 in the first leg.
Eight first-round winners join 22 higher ranked teams in the
second round of the Asian qualifiers to be played on July 23 and
28.
Australia, Japan, both the Koreas and Bahrain - the
continent's top five teams in South Africa 2010 qualifying -
will automatically enter the third round.
Four Asian teams will qualify directly for the World Cup in
Brazil while one will have the chance to make the finals via a
two-leg play-off.