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China and South Korea ease in World Cup Qualifiers
Two-time finalists Iran have suffered a major setback to their hopes of making the 2006 World Cup finals while China, Japan and South Korea recorded easy victories in the latest round of Asian qualifying. Iran, who reached the the finals in 1978 and 1998, went down to a 1-0 defeat to Group One rivals Jordan in Tehran. The win gave Jordan maximum points at the top of their group as the team clinched their third win over Iran in the last two years. With Qatar also recording their first win, a 5-0 success over group whipping boys Laos, the pressure will be on Iran when they travel to Amman for the return in September. Elsewhere, South Korea, bidding for a sixth consecutive appearance in the World Cup finals, defeated Vietnam 2-0 while China trounced Malaysia 4-0. India, meanwhile, found a rampant Japan too hot to handle in Group 3 as they slumped to a 7-0 defeat at the Saitama Stadium. China went into their Group 4 match against Malaysia in Tianjin brimming with confidence. A win over Hungary last week had left Dutch coach Arie Haan confident his side would breeze past the Malaysians. The Chinese were forced to endure a nervous opening to the match however, and had to wait until just before half-time before veteran striker Hao Haidong lashed in the first goal on 42 minutes. Manchester City's Sun Jihai fired home number two in the 66th minute before the impressive Li Xiaopeng made it 3-0 four minutes later with a well-timed headed goal. Li then bagged a second from the penalty spot to complete the scoring for China, who top the group with three wins out of three while Kuwait stay second after a 3-0 home win against Hong Kong. Thirty-two teams split into eight groups of four are taking part in Asia's second round World Cup qualifiers. The eight group winners will advance to a final qualifying round next year. |
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