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Tehran, Oct 14, IRNA -- Iran's national football team gained a
valuable victory against Qatar in Doha, beating the hosts 3-2, paving
their way to second stage of the Asia region qualifiers.
photo: ISNA
Group One will be decided on the final day of the games now after
Iran came from behind to beat Qatar 3-2 in Doha and Jordan beat Laos
by the same score.
Bayern Munich striker Vahid Hashemian scored the winner in the
last minute to keep Iran on course for their third finals appearance
after making it all the way in 1978 and 1998.
Ali Karimi was also on target twice and Iran, who face Laos in
their final match, will be favorites to progress as they have a far
superior goal difference.
Standings in the Asian qualifying zone for the 2006 World Cup
after Wednesday games are currently as follows.
(played, won, drawn, lost, goals for, goals against, points):
Group One
Iran 5 4 0 1 15 4 12
Jordan 5 4 0 1 10 4 12
Qatar 5 2 0 3 14 8 6
Laos 5 0 0 5 3 26 0
Group Two
Uzbekistan 5 4 1 0 10 2 13
Iraq 5 2 2 1 13 5 8
Palestine 4 1 1 2 9 7 4
Taiwan 4 0 0 4 2 19 0
Group Three
Japan 5 5 0 0 15 1 15
Oman 5 3 0 2 14 3 9
Singapore 5 1 0 4 3 12 3
India 5 1 0 4 2 18 3
Group Four
Kuwait 5 4 0 1 9 1 12
China 5 4 0 1 7 1 12
Hong Kong 5 2 0 3 5 8 6
Malaysia 5 0 0 5 1 12 0
Group Five
North Korea 5 3 2 0 11 4 11
Thailand 5 2 0 3 8 9 6
UAE 5 2 1 2 5 6 7
Yemen 5 1 1 3 5 10 4
Group Six
Bahrain 5 3 2 0 11 4 11
Syria 5 2 2 1 7 6 8
Tajikistan 5 2 1 2 5 5 7
Kyrgyzstan 5 0 1 4 4 12 1
Group Seven
South Korea 5 3 2 0 7 2 11
Lebanon 5 3 1 1 11 5 10
Maldives 5 1 1 3 5 12 4
Vietnam 5 1 0 4 5 9 3
Group Eight
Saudi Arabia 5 5 0 0 11 1 15
Turkmenistan 5 2 1 2 7 7 7
Indonesia 5 1 1 3 5 11 4
Sri Lanka 5 0 2 3 4 8 2
Wednesday night victory's high significance for Iran was due to
the fact that now the result of Jordan-Qatar game would have no
effect on the fate of the Iranian national side that has only Laos
to beat to get their green light for the next round of the
qualifiers.
Loss in Doha, or an equal result would have put Iran in a
situation where many factors would have been involved for giving them
a chance to find their way to the next round of the games.
Iran's victory was gained in the absence of the national team's
international striker Ali Daei, who was replaced by the star of
ednesday night game, Vahid Hashemian, who scored two of Iran's goals.
Iran's other goal was scored by another young star of the team,
Arash Borhani.
... Payvand News - 10/14/04 ... --
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