Sport | Football
UAE hopes recede with draw against Jordan
The UAE's hopes of progressing to the next round in the men's football tournament at the Asian Games hit a roadblock when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Jordan.
- Staff Report
- Published: 23:35 May 3, 2009
- Shaikha Maitha Bint Mohammad Bin Rashid Al Maktoum leads the UAE delegation into the stadium during the opening ceremony.
- Image Credit: Karl Jeffs/Gulf News
Doha: The UAE's hopes of progressing to the next round in the men's football tournament at the Asian Games hit a roadblock yesterday when they were held to a 1-1 draw by Jordan at the Al-Saad football stadium.
Having lost to Uzbekistan in their opening match in Group A, the UAE needed to win yesterday's match to stay alive.
They now have just one point from two matches while hosts Qatar and Uzbekistan have three points each. Jordan are in fourth position with a solitary point.
To qualify, the UAE will now have to beat Qatar in their final group match and hope that Jordan beat Uzbekistan by a big margin.
In yesterday's match, Ahmad Khamis came to the UAE's rescue when he struck in the 59th minute to cancel out Odai Alsaify's late first half goal for Jordan.
Good game
The Al Ahli-Fujairah midfielder enjoyed a good game and came close to scoring in the 58th minute.
Meanwhile, South Korea virtually wrapped up a quarterfinal place with a 2-0 win over Vietnam.
Lee Ho, with an early goal, and a last-minute strike by Kim Jin yu gave Pim Verbeek's side their second win in two matches in Group B, a section which also includes Bangladesh and Bahrain. In a lacklustre first half, South Korea had the better opportunities but just one goal to show for their efforts by the interval.
That came after only seven minutes when Vietnam goalkeeper To Vinh Loi spilled a fierce drive from Korean skipper Lee Chun Soo, which fell conveniently into the path of Lee Ho who finished from close range. Choi Sung Kuk then headed over the crossbar after squeezing past two defenders. At the other end, Vietnam managed just one shot on goal when Le Hong Minh had a long-range effort comfortably gathered by South Korean keeper Kim Young Kwang.
The Koreans remained on top in the second half.
Korea are hunting for their first Asiad football gold since 1986.
Results: Group A: UAE 1 Jordan 1
Group B: South Korea 2 Vietnam 0
Group C: Thailand 2 Kyrgyzstan 0.
See also Pages 59, 60
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