Ethiopia 1 - Mauritania 0; Democratic Republic of the Congo ease to victory

The Democratic Republic of the Congo needed a big win in Djibouti to apply pressure on group-leading Egypt the day before the Egyptians visited Malawi. Consider their mission accomplished. With three goals in the first half and three more in the second, Congo DR outdid Egypt’s 4-0 win in Djibouti with a 6-0 win of their own. They are currently at six points, tied with Egypt for a least one day at the head of the group. Djibouti are almost eliminated and have yet to pick up a point through three matches.

Ethiopia were looking to bounce back against Mauritania after blowing a halftime lead in their previous match. The match seemed destined to end in a scoreless draw, and after ninety minutes there was still no score. As we know, soccer matches almost certainly have a little bonus called “stoppage time,” and that is when the visitors made their mark. Ethiopia knocked in the walk-off goal and left with a 1-0 victory that did not give the home crowd any cause for celebration.

Goal scorers:
Democratic Republic of the Congo: Mbokani 25, 48; Nonda 31; Matumdna 40, 49; Mputu 79

Ethiopia: Said 90+2

Swaziland 2 - Togo 1; Democratic Republic of the Congo, Angola win

Togo looked like they were flying high after their clutch win over Zambia at home in their first game. Swaziland did not seem to know that they were supposed to be the afterthought in the three-team group. A scoreless first half gave the Swazis belief in the abilities, and they poured in two goals because Togo frantically scrambled for one with two minutes left. Togo could not find the second, and Swaziland pulled off the upset of the day with a 2-1 victory.

Sudan visited Congo with hopes of working some road magic. Instead, Congo hid Sudan’s magic wands and shut down the Sudanese offense. The first half scoreless, but the second was not. A goal at the hour mark by the home side saw them through to a 1-0 victory.

Malawi visited the Democratic Republic of the Congo looking for a win to keep pace with Egypt. It was not to be. Congo DR were able to hold Malawians at bay as they searched for their own offense. Both teams were goalless at the half, but the home side found the net halfway in the middle of the second half and held out for a 1-0 win and three vital points.

Rwanda are looking to be the surprise team of this year’s African qualifiers, much like Togo and Angola were in 2006. A positive result in Ethiopia would do wonders for their chances, but things were not going so well in the first half. Ethiopia knocked home a stoppage-time goal in the first half for a 1-0 lead. Often in soccer, that would end up being enough but not against a determined Rwanda. The Rwandans scored two unanswered goals in the second half, including the winner with one minute to go and won 2-1.

Angola were looking to continue their domination in Niger, but a Niger goal in the first five minutes applied unwanted pressure to respond. Fortunately, the Angolans did respond before the half to make it 1-1. The game ended 2-1 in Angola’s favor after a hard-fought match.

Uganda visited Benin, but they could not have expected the terrible force that was about to overcome them, especially not after taking a lead in the first ten minutes. Benin answered twice within nine minutes and soon because an unstoppable force. The home team’s 2-1 lead at halftime swelled to 4-1 before Uganda were mercifully shown the exit. Benin takes three points and a whole lot of confidence out of this match.

"To be honest, Senegal have big players and it will be a tough game, but I have confidence in my team, and their spirit gives me the feeling we can do it." -Gambia coach Paul Put

Sénégal visited Gambia looking to vanquish their lower-ranked opponents. Unfortunately, some boneheaded play by Abdel Mangane got himself sent off for his second yellow before the fortieth minute, and the Senegalese had to play a man down for the remainder of the match. This clearly affected their attacking possibilities, but they managed to escape with a scoreless draw.

Goal scorers:
Swaziland: Dlamini 55; Salelwako 72

Togo: Olufade 88

Congo: Endzanga 60

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Matumdna 76

Rwanda: A. Said 66; Karekezi 89

Ethiopia: Teshaye 45+2

Angola: Flávio 29; Asha 72

Niger: Karim Moussa Konate 4

Benin: Omotoyossi 15, 86; Tchomogo 17; Sessegnon 69

Uganda: Ssepuuya 8

Kuwait 4 - Syria 2; Ghana, Zimbabwe win

Syria faced Kuwait in Kuwait during the final AFC qualifier of the day. The game was fully of intensity; Syria picked up three yellows, and Kuwait added two of its own. As for the goals, they came quickly and often. A Kuwait goal was twice answered by a Syrian goal, and the score was 2-2 at the half. Kuwait pulled away with two goals right around the hour mark, but they were not comfortable for long. Kuwaiti goalkeeper Al Khaldi was ejected for a red card in the seventy-third minute, but luckily for the Kuwaitis, they had one substitution remaining. Down a man, Kuwait managed to hang on for the 4-2 victory and are still in contention in Group E.

Côte d'Ivoire visited Madagascar, again without Didier Drogba. Luckily for the Ivoirians, their defense has held up without their star, but no goals were found in Antananarivo. The final yellow card tally did fall in the Ivoirians’ favor, however, ending at 3-2.

Cameroon visited rainy Mauritius in their second tilt of 2010 qualifying. The true deluge, however, came off of the feet of the Cameroonians. Two penalty conversions in the first half combined with yet another penalty score in the second brought Cameroon a 3-0 victory and three more points.

Botswana visited neighbors Mozambique with thoughts of an upset. They left with the dream realized. A 1-0 halftime lead for Botswana was erased at the hour mark, but a score ten minutes from time saw them through with a 2-1 win.

Ghana visited Lesotho without Sulley Muntari, but they looked great despite his absence. Two goals eased their nerves by the end of the half, and a third came midway through the second period. Nevertheless, Lesotho never gave in and managed to pull back two goals in the ninetieth minute. Ghana escaped with a 3-2 victory, which is worth three points, the same as the 3-0 would have given them. Still, the late splurge may be cause for concern moving on in the competition.

“All the players did really well today… It was disappointing to concede the two late goals; we lost concentration. Giving away two late goals like that is not good for a team that wants to qualify for the World Cup. But it was a spectacular result. Six points is the maximum and we can now build on this. Six goals in two matches is very good." -Ghana coach Silas Tetteh.

Namibia was looking to build on its win over Kenya during its trip to Zimbabwe. Zimbabwe had other plans. A Zimbabwean goal before the half-hour was the only tally at the half. The game was not put out of reach until there were under five minutes to play, when a second score gave Zimbabwe a 2-0 win and three points in the most competitive group in Africa’s First Round.
Namibia, Zimbabwe, Kenya, and Guinea promise to provide plenty of drama in the upcoming four match days, especially since it is now unlikely that the second-place finisher will have enough points to advance to Round Two.

Goal scorers:
Kuwait: Al Azemi 2, 20, 63; Jumah 57

Syria: Al Khatib 10, 45+2

Cameroon: Bikey 11 PK; Eto'o 27 PK; Bebey Mbangue 87 PK

Botswana: Selolwane 20; Mafoko 80

Mozambique: Lobo 61

Ghana: Kingston 15; Agogo 42, 62

Lesotho: Muso 90; Seema 90

Zimbabwe: Mushangazhike 27, 86

Kenya 2 - Guinea 0; South Africa, Tunisia, Nigeria, Morocco, Burkina Faso win

South Africa was looking to get back on track after its opening defeat at Nigeria. Their opponents were Equatorial Guinea. South Africa got off to a fast start with a goal in minute ten, and they were able to play add-on before the half to make it 2-0. The lead was 3-0 at the hour mark, and 3-1 after a penalty kick make by the visitors. The final score was South Africa 4, Equatorial Guinea 1, thanks a stoppage time score.

Tunisia needed to right their ship after the upset home loss to Burkina Faso. It looks unlikely now that they will win the group, so Tunisia need full points against Burundi and Seychelles to qualify as one of the best eight second-place sides. They visited the islanders of Seychelles, and stamped a 2-0 win thanks to two first-half strikes.

Guinea were the favorites in their group coming into qualifying, but after their trip to Kenya, their route to the World Cup is in jeopardy. The Kenyans received one goal within the first five minutes off each half to take all three precious points at home.

Chad played its home opener against Mali, but it was not the grand beginning which the home crowd had awaited. Two goals, capped by a penalty kick conversion left the Chadians in a 2-0 hole before the half-hour mark. They got one back before halftime, but the 2-1 score held and Mali took three road points.

Tanzania paid Cape Verde a visit for their second match of qualifying. The visit ended unhappily as the islanders took care of business in Praia with a one-goal shutout. The tension must have been thick until Cape Verde found the net thirty minutes in to the second half.

Nigeria were flying high after defeating World Cup 2010 hosts South Africa. Then, they actually ran into trouble at Sierra Leone and fought to a scoreless draw until a header two minutes from time gave them a clutch 1-0 road win.

Morocco looked to make their advance to the next round more of a certainty by beating Mauritania on the road. They got off to a 2-0 lead by the half, and they had stretched the advantage to 4-0 before a consolation goal made the final score 4-1. Morocco even won the yellow card battle 3-2.

“I think it’s a new start for us but we can’t afford to drop our concentration the match against Burundi.” –Moumouni Dagano, Burkina Faso

Burkina Faso did not have a let down at home to Burundi thanks to Dagano himself, the man who scored one goal in each half to lead his side to a 2-0 win and six points through two matches.

Libya hosted Gabon in an ugly match. The hosts brought some hard plays, as evidenced by their three yellows, but the ugly play had more to do with the offenses. The only goal was scored by Gabon in the fifth minute; unfortunately, it was an own goal and the Libyans scraped out with a 1-0 victory.

Goal scorers:
South Africa: Dikgacoi 10, 90+3; Moriri 34; Fanteni 60

Equatorial Guinea: Juvenal 76 PK

Tunisia: Jomaa 10; Ben Saada 43

Kenya: Oliech 3, 50

Mali: Kanoute 5, 21 PK

Chad: Kedigui 43

Cape Verde: Babanço 73

Nigeria: Yobo 89

Morocco: Sektioui 8; Benjelloun 36; Safri 59; Kharja 79

Mauritania: Da Silva 82 PK

Burkina Faso: Dagano 25, 47

Libya: Brou Aspanga 5 OG (Gabon)

Qatar 1 - China 0; Iran 1 - United Arab Emirates 0; Uzbekistan advance to Round Four

Turkmenistan visited North Korea in their fourth group C match. The North Koreans found themselves tied at the half with last-place Turkmenistan, but a second-half goal saw them through to a one-goal shutout win. Turkmenistan have seen their dreams of making the World Cup extinguished and will have to watch the tournament as spectators. North Korea face Jordan at home on June 14.

Qatar and China had their rematch in Tianjin, and saying that the two teams caused some bad blood would be an understatement. Qatar drew three yellows, but were outshone by the five that their hosts received. An early penalty conversion by the Qataris did not make the Chinese any more accommodating. Nevertheless, the 1-0 result held and Qatar have the inside track to advance to Round Four out of Group A along with Australia. China are down four points to the joint group leaders with only two games remaining.

“China were only lucky to secure a goalless draw against us in the last match in Doha so before this match I had thought that we could win if we didn't give them too many chances. Throughout the match our players demonstrated good disciplined play and determination for the win. We had made a proper game strategy which eventually carried us through." -Qatar coach Jorge Fossati

South Korea faced Jordan and knew that had to win to keep pace with the North Koreans; their neighbors had won earlier in the day. South Korea were up to the task, however, and stole three road points heading into another road game on June 14 against eliminated Turkmenistan. After a fast start for the Jordanians, their goalkeeper took down Oh Beom-Seok in the box and was unable to keep the penalty kick out of the net. Five yellows were flashed, including three to the disappointed hosts. The South Koreans held on for an impressive 1-0 win.With the win, they move to eight points and are tied with North Korea on top of the group. Jordan are barely hanging on to life with four points.

Saudi Arabia got off to a bad start with trouble against Uzbekistan, but they had the honor of eliminating Lebanon from World Cup contention on this night. After going down by one near the end of the half, the Saudis quickly woke up and equalized the score by the half. A veritable deluge fell in the second as the Saudis poured in three more and won 4-1, all but locking up second place in the group ahead of Singapore.

Singapore were humiliated defensively at home versus Uzbekistan a few days prior to the return match. Their defense held up in Tashkent, but the offense went missing in action. After eighty minutes of scoreless soccer, it took a second-half substitute to push the Uzbeks into the lead for the first time and into Round Four of qualifying with a 1-0 home victory. Including Round One, the Uzbeks are a perfect 6-0-0 in their campaign so far.

Unmanned Australia were in Dubai without Cahill, Neill, or Viduka to face the homeless Iraqis, who had only scraped out one point through three matches. That changed tonight. A 30-yard chip shot in the first half hour sailed over the unsuspecting Australian defense and into the net, giving Iraq the one-goal lead at the half. The Aussies had work to do considering they had zero shots in the half. That changed in the second, but the score line did not, and Iraq move to four points in the group tables, three behind both Australia and Qatar. China bring up the cellar with three.

“It was a very unlucky goal. We were in complete control and just waiting for the game to open up because Iraq had to win. We made it difficult for ourselves and now we have to win one game out of the next two.” -Australia coach Pim Verbeek

Takeshi Okada, Japan coach: “We are far from comfortably through yet, and playing away against Oman won’t be easy.”

Oman struck early in Muscat against visiting Japan. The half ended with the 1-0 scoreline. The real fun began when Oman gave up a penalty shot early in the second half and the Japanese converted for 1-1. Keiji Tamada had drawn the penalty, and his mates did not let him down. In the seventy-fourth minute, Yoshito Okubo was sent off for firing a ball in the direction of Omani keeper Ali Al Habsi. Luckily for Japan, Khalifa Avil was sent off in the ensuing scuffle, so both squads were reduced to ten men. Oman drew a second half penalty of their own. Fawzi Bashir kicked the penalty but was stonewalled by Japanese keeper Seigo Narazaki and the score held at 1-1.

“We paid for not taking our chances. The players battled well in the heat so we just have to accept the draw.” –Takeshi Okada

Thailand visited Bahrain with no points through three matches and with little hope left of survival. They left with left hope of surviving, but at least their draw stopped Bahrain from guaranteeing a spot in Round Four for the time being. Abdulla Fatadi was sent off for the home side in minute fifty-six and Thailand took advantage with the game’s first goal. An equalizer two minutes later made up the final score of 1-1. Thailand’s Teeratep Winothai was booted for a red card in stoppage time, adding to the Thai haul of four yellow cards. Bahrain have ten points, Japan have seven, Oman have four, and Thailand have one.

Iran scored a surprising result in Abu Dhabi against their hosts, United Arab Emirates, the current group leaders. The Iranians did so without the suspended Teymourian or the injured Mahdavikia and Karimi. Even though the Emiratis completely dominated the pitch for the duration of the game, all of their chances went begging whereas Iran scored on its only opportunity in the first half. Still, conversions are what count, and Iran jumped into the group lead with six points, one ahead of the Emiratis and the Syrians. Kuwait is not far behind either. All in all, this group is the most evenly matched of the five in Asia’s third round.

Goal scorers:
North Korea: Choe 72

Qatar: Quintana 14 PK

South Korea: Park C.H. 22 PK

Saudi Arabia: Al Qahtani 44, 90; Hawsawi 62; Tukar 84

Lebanon: El Ali 42

Uzbekistan: Geynrikh 80

Iraq: Emad Mohammed 28

Oman: Ahmed Mubarak 11

Japan: Endo 53

Thailand: Thonglao 65

Bahrain: Isa 67

Iran: Zandi 8

Egypt, Algeria stroll

Egypt had the opportunity to take a nice little vacation to sunny Djibouti; the only catch was that they had some sporting business to attend to first. After a slow first forty minutes, the Egyptians found the back of the net and had a 1-0 lead at the half. The next fifteen minutes showcased furious Egyptian soccer and after three quick goals the Egyptians turned off the engines to coast to a 4-0 win.

Algeria were looking to get back on track after a close loss at Sénégal. The home stadium gave them plenty of confidence against Liberia, and it showed. A two-goal halftime lead turned into a 3-0 score with an early penalty conversion. The three points are the first that Algeria have taken in qualifying.

Goal scorers:
Egypt: Zaki 40; Abd Rabo 47 PK; Hassan 54; Abdelmalk 65

Algeria: Djebbour 14; Ziani 18, 46 PK

Honduras 4 - Puerto Rico 0

In the first match of the second round in North America, highly-favored Honduras come through in the rain at home to easily handle the Puerto Ricans. A 1-0 lead at the half only increased in the second half, and the much more experienced Hondurans put together a 4-0 thrashing of their opponents. The second and final leg between the sqauds will take place on June 14 in Puerto Rico, although Puerto Rico will be without the services of Marco Veléz, who picked up two yellows in the match and will be serving his suspension.

Goal scorers:

Honduras: de León 25; Palacios 51; D. Suazo 52, 90+2

Japan get back on track; China, Iran, and North Korea held to scoreless draws

With the opportunity of passing rivals South Korea for the group lead, the North Korea were unable to gather any sort of offense and had to settle for one point, the result of a scoreless draw against a determined Turkmenistan defense. North Korea and South Korea are still tied for first in the group after the third round of matches.

Thailand were in desperate need of a win against Bahrain in Bangkok, especially with two losses to open Round Three of Asian qualifying. After going down a goal in the twenty-second minute, the Thais answered the challenge within three minutes. Again, Bahrain pushed ahead but the Thais notched the score at two apiece heading into the locker room. A goal in the second half broke the deadlock, and the visiting Bahrainis won the match and have the maximum of nine points heading into their home match against the same Thais later this week. The Thais have no points and are all but dead with only three matches left to play.

“We were under pressure, we made mistakes, and it nearly cost us the game,” explained Bahrain’s coach Milan Macala. “I’m happy with three points; that’s all I wanted. I don’t care how we got them.”

"I felt a sense of crisis after we lost to Bahrain, so we must pile up the points as soon as possible." – Shunsuke Nakamura, Japanese striker

Japan grabbed an 1-0 halftime lead at home in the rain of Yokohama against the Omanis, and the play of Nakamura made it stand up at the finish. He set up the next goal with a hockey assist and then finished off the scoring with a bullet shot. The physical 3-0 win (five yellows cards were flashed, including three to Oman) has Japan back on track after their upset loss to Bahrain in their previous qualifier. The importance of the early goal was not lost on Japanese coach Takeshi Okada. "We got pretty good rhythm from the beginning. The early first goal made it a bit easier for us, but the early goal in the second half made us comfortable." Nakamura also spoke about the match. “We put Oman under pressure well as a team and opened them up with individual skill. That will be the key to winning tight games.” Japan have six points and trail Bahrain by three heading into their fourth game later this week.

Singapore were playing in the biggest game in their history and their nerves showed. A bunch of poor mistakes gave the Uzbeks one-goal leads, but back Singapore gamely tied the game each time. The 2-2 tie turned into a blowout, however, as visiting Uzbekistan scored four straight goals, including the first three for a 5-2 before the halftime whistle. A late for Singapore made the score a more respectable 6-3, but Uzbekistan added one more for the 7-3 and took full points. Uzbekistan now top group D with nine points, three clear of Saudi Arabia.

Radojko Avarmovic spoke about his team’s loss. “If anybody had told me before the game we would score three goals against Uzbekistan, I would be very happy, but today the defense looked like it didn’t exist.”

"We achieved what we came here for and we will keep moving." - Bruno Metso, coach of United Arab Emirates

What they wanted was a draw in Iran, and they achieved this despite making no serious rushes on the Iranian goal. Iran could not mount a strong enough attack to muster more than one decent scoring chance, which was denied by the Emirates’ goalie. Five yellow cards were passed around and the visitor grabbed three of them. The scoreless draw means that the United Arab Emirates have the joint group lead with five points, along with Syria. Iran are underperforming with three points, and Kuwait have only one. Sadly, although Iran have yet to lose, they are going to be on their way out of qualifying if they do not engineer a turnaround in the next three matches.

China did not seem to be too concerned about offense when they visited Doha to take on Qatar near the searing heat of the Persian Gulf. This was shown by their decision to start six defenders and by their willingness to take four yellow cards; still, Qatar had the best chance to score when a header knocked a crossbar on the Chinese goal near the end of the first half. All China was able to garner were three yellow cards from the referee. Still, China will be happy with the scoreless draw if they take advantage of home-field advantage and defeat Qatar in the return game later this week. Australia is in front of Group A with seven points. Qatar are second with four and China are in third position with three points from three draws. Iraq round out the group with one.

With the draw between the top two teams in their group having been confirmed, the Syrians would have known in their locker room at halftime that a win against Kuwait would shoot them into a surprising first-place tie after the first three matches of Round Three. The scoreless draw was broken by the Syrians as they carved out a 1-0 victory which was unremarkable other than the fact that it placed Syria ahead of Iran in the group tables and left Syria in the driver’s seat to advance to Round Four. This matched featured, you guessed it, five yellow cards, with three going to Syria.

The Lebanese scored the first goal in the match with less than five minutes to go in the first half. Unfortunately for Lebanon, this seemed to light the fire under the Saudis, who had tied the game by halftime. A flurry of three second-half goals gave Saudi Arabia a large 4-1 victory and keep them in second place behind Uzbekistan in the table for Group D.

Goal scorers:
Bahrain: Isa 22; Latif 35; Mohamed Adnan 55

Thailand: Chaikamdee 26; Winothai 45

Japan: Nakazawa 10; Ozubo 22; S. Nakamura 49

Uzbekistan: Kapadze 10; Karpenko 21; Djeparov 34, 44; Denisov 42; Ibragimov 62; Shatskikh 88

Singapore: Duric 12; Fahrudin 31 PK; Wilkinson 73

Syria: Alhoussain 52

Saudi Arabia: Al Qahtani 44, 90; Hawsawi 62; Tukar 82

Lebanon: El Ali 42

Burkina Faso 2 - Tunisia 1; Côte d'Ivoire, Egypt, Ghana win

Didier Drogba couldn’t come. It’s too bad for Mozambique that Sekou Cisse did. The replacement for Drogba, Cisse scored the games only goal and gave the Ivoirians their first three points toward South Africa against the highest-ranked of its three group opponents. Mozambique went card-crazy in this battle, drawing five yellows, including two for Dario, who was sent off in minute eighty-nine.

The Ghanaians had hosted the Cup of Nations, but no tournament is like the World Cup, which is why Ghana was hosting Libya in Kumasi. One large 3-0 win later, Ghana are three points closer to the second and final phase of African qualifying.

Somedays, things just won’t go your way. Guinea had seen that Namibia had scored a last-ditch goal to gain three points and take the group lead the day before. Guinea looked up at the scoreboard and noticed the scoreless draw was still there late in the game. They ended the match with five forwards, but alas, still no goals and they now sit two points back of group-leaders Namibia. Zimbabwe stole an all-important road point and are in position to advance after another five solid matches.

Tunisia were cruising at home with the lead and only ten minutes to play. Surely the experienced, World Cup veterans would be able to shut down an upstart squad. The last ten fateful minutes proved otherwise as substitute Yssouf Koné come on after eighty minutes and became a national hero with his two late goals as Burkina Faso pulled off the biggest upset in Round One of African qualifying so far. The game had five yellow cards, including three for the visiting victors.

Mali took care of Congo in a match that featured six goals. Luckily for Mali, four of those goals were theirs, along with three points from the 4-2 victory. Mali struck in the first minute but had no breathing room when Congo replied four minutes later. Mali took a 3-1 lead into the half, however, and added their fourth before the Congolese finished off the scoring.

Sure, the Egyptians have won two straight Cup of Nations titles. They are perhaps the power team in Africa, yet the world has not heard of them. Why? They have failed to reach a World Cup in recent memory, and a 1-0 deficit at the half at home to second-seeded Democratic Republic of the Congo did not have the supporters of the first-seed feeling very secure. Two unanswered goals in the subsequent half gave the Egyptians a 2-1 win and full points, however, and no damage was done to their campaign.

Goal scorers:
Côte d'Ivoire: Cisse 74

Ghana: Tagoe 17; Agogo 54; Kingston 64

Burkina Faso: Y. Koné 85, 87

Tunisia: Belaid 38

Mali: 1, 61; A. Coulibaly 32; S. Coulibaly 42

Congo: Mouithys 5, 74

Egypt: Zaki 68; Abdelmalk 80

Democratic Republic of the Congo: Ilunga 44

Australia 1 - Iraq 0; Nigeria 2 - South Africa 0; tragedy in Liberia

Iraq weren’t sure if they would get to play in Australia until Thursday, when they were reinstated. The trip to Australia would not prove to be a good one for the Iraqis, however, as the Australians recorded their third straight clean sheet in three qualifying matches. The first half saw the Iraqis hit the crossbar, the goalie’s leg, and the air just outside of a post. With the game tied at the half, the Australians decided to score quickly with a Kewell header off of a cross from Emerton to excite the crowd. They held on for the victory.

Australia’s Harry Kewell spoke about the win. "I think we rode our luck. Iraq created quite a few chances today and a couple of balls went their way but again we had a great keeper who stopped them." More fitting words would be hard to find since Mark Schwarzer was able to make two clutch saves in the final ten minutes.

Iraq coach Adnan Hamad spoke about how the short ban affected his team. "Of course, it affected our players a lot, but we always play under pressure and we are the only football team in the world that plays outside of its country."

It looks like Iraq won’t be playing any of its games in South Africa after the FIFA Confederations Cup in 2009, with only one point with three games left. Australia have garnered seven and are on the cusp of the second round. The two squads play in Dubai, United Arab Emirates, next week.

Equatorial Guinea won at home 2-0 against Sierra Leone, a team that had to survive the preliminary round just for the right to be in Malabo playing in the first round. Equatorial Guinea show little sympathy, coldly willing their way to three points.

Angola arrived fashionably late to its own party in its capital city, Luanda. With no goals in the first hour, the Angolans pushed across three goals in the final thirty minutes to score a stylish victory over Benin. The Angolans are looking to qualify for a second successive World Cup.

Burundi clawed out a 1-0 home victory against Seychelles. No goals were found in the first eighty minutes and the islanders were on the verge of gaining their first ever point in World Cup qualifying, but Burundi finally broke the tie.

“We are back again and we've sent out a message that whoever is going to play Nigeria is going to find it tough." – forward Nwankwo Kanu

South Africa were looking to prove that they deserve the free pass into the upcoming World Cup. They did nothing to justify their position, however (unless you count three yellows), and fell in their opener to Nigeria. Instead, it was the Nigerians who proved that their poor Cup of Nations performance was a fluke. Two first-half headers had the Nigerian home crowd joyous, and the defense did not even let one goal back to secure the shutout victory. In fact, Nigeria’s goalkeeper did not even touch the ball until minute thirty-nine.

A match took place between Liberia and Gambia on June 1, 2008. The game ended in a 1-1 tie, but sometimes other events overshadow the match itself. Eight spectators were killed by suffocation because the cramped gates leading into the stadium were not wide enough to allow the cramped mass of fans to breathe.

Liberia’s football president stated that “people preferred the angle that the gate provided and so they were all just crammed in one area and that led to suffocation.”

Goal scorers:
Australia: Kewell 47

Equatorial Guinea: Ronan 47; Epitié 56

Angola: Flavio 62; Ricardo 81; Mendonça 86

Burundi: Ndikumana 81

Nigeria: Uche 10; Nwaneri 44

Gambia: Jarjue 17

Liberia: Makor 82

Togo 1 - Zambia 0; Sénégal, Uganda win

No top teams faced more pressure when the African qualifiers began than Togo and Zambia. With the withdrawal of Ethiopia, the possibility of being one of the eight-best second-place sides is all but impossible, so the two sides know that their two matches will be extremely crucial. Togo was the home team in match one, but due to a four-game home ban due to riots against Mali during Cup of Nations qualifying, the Togolese were hosting the Zambians in Accra, Ghana. Still, a goal at the quarter-hour mark held up for Togo, who looked poised to advance out of Group K if they can beat Swaziland twice and draw away to Zambia. To make matter worse for the Zambians, Isaac Chansa got a second yellow in the ninetieth minute and will miss their next match.

Namibia’s opening goal was answered by the Kenyans with minutes to spare in the first period. The game remained scoreless for the entire second half until the last minute of the match. Namibia came up with the most clutch goal of the day in African qualifying and a 2-1 victory courtesy of Khaiseb.

Uganda got to work on their campaign to qualify for South Africa. An opening win 1-0 in Kampala did nothing but boost Uganda’s confidence heading into the next five qualifiers. Still, the 0-0 score going into the half could not have been too pleasing for the Ugandan coaching staff. Nevertheless, their three points is more than Niger have to show for this game.

Morocco spent little time putting this qualifier out of reaching, scoring twice in the opening thirteen minutes to give themselves a 2-0 lead at the half. A red card for Ethiopia's Fikru Tefera did not help their comeback bid. Morocco pushed across an extra goal in the second half that resulted in a three-goal shutout for the Moroccans.

Sénégal are looking to back to the World Cup after making the quarterfinals in 2002 but missing the German edition in 2006. They took the first step today with a close home victory over Algeria. No goals were scored until less than fifteen minutes remained, when the home side broke the scoring seal in Dakar. Algeria were in a defensive mood, taking three yellows before finally letting the Sénégalese score. Sénégal held defensively for the shutout.

“We're a team rebuilding. We don't have to be ashamed of this loss. We will carry on working and I believe if we work hard, we will be on the right way," said Algerian coach Rabbah Saadane.

Goal scorers:
Togo: Olufade 16

Namibia: Risser 14; Kaiseb 89

Kenya: Makacha 40

Uganda: Sekajja 53

Morocco: Benjelloun 4; Aboucharouane 12; Kharja 87

Sénégal: Faye 80

South Korea draw Jordan; Cameroon win

With a rabid home crowd and a two-goal lead, one would figure that the South Koreans would hold on for the win. Well, one would be wrong. Despite a 1-0 lead at the half and an insurance goal in the second, a two-goals-in-seven-minutes flurry from Jordanian substitute Abdel Fattah leveled the match and meant that the two sides would split the points. South Korea currently has five and Jordan possesses four in Group C. Jordan added four yellow cards to its two-goal haul. The two sides face off again in Jordan on June 7.

"We gave up goals too easily," said South Korean coach Huh Jung-Moo. "We should have scored more. We grew complacent after building the lead and some guys just tired toward the end." Jordan coach Nelo Vingada also spoke after the draw. "As I've said earlier, South Korea are a better team and I didn't expect we'd score two goals against them, but we wanted to show Korean fans that Jordan are an improving team. We never gave up after going down 2-0 and our efforts paid off."

Malawi hosted Djibouti in their opening match, and the game was close at the half; the two sides were tied at one goal apiece. Then, Malawi awoke in the second half and destroyed their opponents at home in Blantyre. A seven-goal half gave Malawi an 8-1 victory. Sadly, Djibouti took the yellow card tally 4-3, so it'll be interesting to see if Malawi get more physical next time.

Botswana may not feel too great about not taking advantage of a team that had to qualify for the first round by beating Comoros. Playing at home in Gaborone to Madagascar, Botswana twice believed that they had grabbed a lead off of Pontsho Moloi goals, only to see the offsides flag crush their home. The game ended in an unsatisfying scoreless draw.

The stars were shining at home in Yaounde for the Cameroon national side. Eto’o and Rigobert Song scored the two goals that sent their fans home happy and a message to the rest of their group. With three points, Cameroon have a two-point lead over Tanzania and Mauritius.

Rwanda held serve at home in Kigali with a 3-0 win over Mauritania. The one-goal halftime lead was padded by another pair, including a penalty kick conversion. The Rwandans will savor their three points while looking toward their next opponents.

Lowly-ranked Mauritius came in to Tanzania with low expectations but managed to pull out a goal and a lead at the half. Wesley Marquette had been the hero of the game up until minute fifty-nine due to his goal, but his red card put his team down a man. Tanzania struggled with the man-advantage and only managed to pull even. The 1-1 draw will cripple Tanzania’s hopes of making it to the final phase of African qualifying, and they have some points to make up in their upcoming matches.

The following two matches were postponed: Lesotho at Gabon and Chad at Sudan. Chad and Sudan have an ongoing border security issue. Lesotho could not fly to Gabon for the match because of an air traffic controllers' strike.

Goal scorers:
South Korea: Park J.S. 39; Park C.Y. 48

Jordan: Mahmoud 73, 81

Malawi: Kafoteka 3; Kanyeda 19, 46, 48; Kamwendo 66; Chavula 73; Ngambi 78; Mkandawire 83

Djibouti: Daher 23

Cameroon: R. Song 8; Eto'o 57 PK

Rwanda: Karekezi 15; Said 67 PK; Kamana Bokota 72

Mauritius: Marquette 39

Tanzania: Mrwanda 69

Iraq suspended from FIFA for one year

Iraq have been suspended by FIFA from all competitions for one year because the Iraqi government dissolved its national sports federations.

Iraq have until 11:59 on May 29 according to Sydney, Australia time to reverse its ruling. Otherwise, it will be eliminated from the upcoming qualifying matches. Iraq's opponents will be awarded full points for the remaining four matches on the Iraqi Round Three schedule.

The Iraqi players were training and were about to leave for Australia when the news was broken. "The decision is a big shock for the players," said Iraq's coach Adnan Hamad.

Sorting through the mess (May-June)

FIFA just confirmed a portion of the dates of fixtures in Africa, South America, North America, Oceania, and Asia. Here is my attempt to sort through them. This post will be updated when more match dates are finalized.

It is also important to note that the federations of Madagascar (19 March) and Chad (25 March) have been suspended. There is no word yet on whether or not they will be elgible in time for the qualifying cycle.

Here are the confirmed matches. All match times are local times.

May 31, 2008
Jordan at South Korea 10 PM Seoul
Djibouti at Malawi 2:30 PM Blantyre
Madagascar at Botswana 3 PM Gaborone
Cape Verde at Cameroon 3:30 PM Yaounde
Lesotho at Gabon 3:30 PM Libreville
Mauritania at Rwanda 3:30 PM Kigali
Mauritius at Tanzania 4 PM Dar es Salaam
Zambia at Togo 3:30 PM Accra, Ghana
Kenya at Namibia 4 PM Windhoek
Niger at Uganda 4 PM Kampala
Ethiopia at Morocco 7 PM Casablanca
Algeria at Sénégal 7:30 PM Dakar
Chad at Sudan 8 PM Omdurman

June 1, 2008
Iraq at Australia 5 PM Brisbane
Sierra Leone at Equatorial Guinea 3:30 PM Malabo
Benin at Angola 3:30 PM Luanda
Seychelles at Burundi 3:30 PM Bujumbura
South Africa at Nigeria 4 PM Abuja
Gambia at Liberia 4 PM Monrovia
Mozambique at Côte d'Ivoire 4 PM Abidjan
Libya at Ghana 5 PM Kumasi
Zimbabwe at Guinea 5 PM Conakry
Burkina Faso at Tunisia 6 PM Rades
Congo at Mali 6 PM Bamako
Democratic Republic of the Congo at Egypt 9 PM Cairo

June 2, 2008
North Korea at Turkmenistan 5 PM Ashgabat
Bahrain at Thailand 7 PM Bangkok
Oman at Japan 7:20 PM Yokohama
Uzbekistan at Singapore 7:30 PM Singapore
United Arab Emirates at Iran 5 PM Tehrān
China at Qatar 7 PM Doha
Kuwait at Syria 8 PM Damascus
Lebanon at Saudi Arabia 9 PM Riyadh

June 4, 2008
Puerto Rico at Honduras 7:30 PM San Pedro Sula

June 6, 2008
Egypt at Djibouti 3 PM Djibouti
Liberia at Algeria 7:15 PM Blida

June 7, 2008
Turkmenistan at North Korea 5 PM Pyongyang
Qatar at China 8 PM Tianjin
Singapore at Uzbekistan 6 PM Tashkent
South Korea at Jordan 5 PM Ammān
Saudi Arabia at Lebanon 6 PM Beirut
Japan at Oman 6:30 PM Muscat
Thailand at Bahrain 7:30 PM Al Manāmah
Australia at Iraq 8 PM Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Equatorial Guinea at South Africa 3 PM Pretoria
Tunisia at Seychelles 4:30 PM Victoria
Iran at United Arab Emirates 8 PM Al Ain City
Guinea at Kenya 4 PM Nairobi
Mali at Chad 4 PM N'Djamena
Tanzania at Cape Verde 4 PM Praia
Nigeria at Sierra Leone 4:30 PM Freetown
Morocco at Mauritania 5 PM Nouakchott
Burundi at Burkina Faso 6 PM Ouagadougou
Gabon at Libya 8 PM Tripoli

June 8, 2008
Syria at Kuwait 8:45 Kuwait City
Côte d'Ivoire at Madagascar 2:30 PM Antananarivo
Cameroon at Mauritius 3 PM Curepipe
Botswana at Mozambique 3 PM Maputo
Ghana at Lesotho 3 PM Maseru
Namibia at Zimbabwe 3 PM Harare
Togo at Swaziland 3 PM Mbabane
Malawi at Democratic Republic of the Congo 3:30 PM Kinshasa
Sudan at Congo 3:30 PM Brazzaville
Rwanda at Ethiopia 4 PM Addis Ababa
Angola at Niger 4 PM Niamey
Uganda at Benin 4 PM Cotonou
Sénégal at Gambia 5 PM Banjul

June 13, 2008
Democratic Republic of the Congo at Djibouti 3 PM Djibouti
Ethiopia at Mauritania 5 PM Nouakchott

June 14, 2008
New Caledonia at Vanuatu 2 PM Port Vila
South Korea at Turkmenistan 5 PM Ashgabat
Jordan at North Korea 5 PM Pyongyang
Japan at Thailand 5:20 PM Bangkok
Lebanon at Uzbekistan 6 PM Tashkent
Saudi Arabia at Singapore 7:30 PM Singapore
Iraq at China 8 PM Tianjin
Egypt at Malawi 2:30 PM Blantyre
Côte d'Ivoire at Botswana 3 PM Gaborone
Guinea at Namibia 3 PM Windhoek
Ghana at Gabon 3:30 PM Libreville
Morocco at Rwanda 3:30 PM Kigali
Burkina Faso at Seychelles 4:30 PM Victoria
Angola at Uganda 4 PM Kampala
Cameroon at Tanzania 4 PM Dar es Salaam
Benin at Niger 4 PM Niamey
Zimbabwe at Kenya 4 PM Nairobi
Congo at Chad 4 PM N'Djamena
Australia at Qatar 7 PM Doha
Oman at Bahrain 7:30 PM Al Manāmah
South Africa at Sierra Leone 4:30 PM Freetown
Algeria at Gambia 5 PM Banjul
Iran at Syria 8 PM Damascus
United Arab Emirates at Kuwait 8:45 PM Kuwait City
Mali at Sudan 8 PM Omdurman
Venezuela at Uruguay 4 PM Montevideo
Costa Rica at Grenada 4 PM St. George's
Guyana at Suriname 4 PM Paramaribo
Honduras at Puerto Rico 8 PM Bayamón
St. Lucia at Guatemala 8 PM Guatemala City
Colombia at Perú 8 PM Lima

June 15, 2008
Mozambique at Madagascar 2:30 PM Antananarivo
Cape Verde at Mauritius 3 PM Curepipe
Libya at Lesotho 3 PM Maseru
Zambia at Swaziland 3 PM Mbabane
Tunisia at Burundi 3 PM Bujumbura
Nigeria at Equatorial Guinea 3:30 PM Malabo
Sénégal at Liberia 4 PM Monrovia
Barbados at United States of America 2 PM Carson
Canada at St. Vincent and the Grenadines 3 PM Kingstown
Netherlands Antilles at Haiti 3 PM Port-au-Prince
Brazil at Paraguay 3 PM Asunción
México at Belize 3:30 PM Houston, United States of America
Bermuda at Trinidad and Tobago 4 PM Macoya
El Salvador at Panamá 4 PM Panamá City
Bahamas at Jamaica 6 PM Kingston
Ecuador at Argentina 6:10 PM Buenos Aires
Chile at Bolivia 7:30 PM La Paz

June 17, 2008
Perú at Uruguay 7 PM Montevideo
Cuba at Antigua and Barbuda 6 PM St. John's

June 18, 2008
Paraguay at Bolivia 4:10 PM La Paz
Colombia at Ecuador 5 PM Quito
Jamaica at Bahamas 7 PM Greenfield-Trelawny
Argentina at Brazil 9:50 PM Belo Horizonte

June 19, 2008
Chile at Venezuela 8 PM Puerto la Cruz

June 20, 2008
Gambia at Algeria 7:30 PM Blida
Lesotho at Libya 8 PM Tripoli
St. Vincent and the Grenadines at Canada 7:30 PM Montréal

June 21, 2008
Vanuatu at New Caledonia 3 PM Noumea
Swaziland at Zambia 2 PM Chilabombwe
Sierra Leone at South Africa 3 PM Kimberley
Tanzania at Cameroon 3:30 PM Yaounde
Equatorial Guinea at Nigeria 4 PM Abuja
Seychelles at Burkina Faso 6 PM Ouagadougou
Rwanda at Morocco 7 PM Casablanca
Liberia at Sénégal 7:30 PM Dakar
Burundi at Tunisia 8:30 PM Rades
Guatemala at St. Lucia 4 PM Vieux Fort
Grenada at Costa Rica 8 PM San José
Belize at México 9 PM Monterrey

June 22, 2008
China at Australia 6 PM Sydney
Bahrain at Japan 7:20 PM Saitama
North Korea at South Korea 8 PM Seoul
Kuwait at Iran 5 PM Tehrān
Turkmenistan at Jordan 6 PM Ammān
Singapore at Lebanon 6 PM Beirut
Thailand at Oman 6:30 PM Muscat
Qatar at Iraq 8 PM Dubai, United Arab Emirates
Madagascar at Mozambique 3 PM Maputo
Kenya at Zimbabwe 3 PM Harare
Uganda at Angola 3:30 PM Luanda
Djibouti at Democratic Republic of the Congo 3:30 PM Kinshasa
Chad at Congo 3:30 PM Brazzaville
Mauritania at Ethiopia 4 PM Addis Ababa
Bostwana at Côte d'Ivoire 4 PM Abidjan
Niger at Benin 4 PM Cotonou
Mauritius at Cape Verde 4 PM Praia
Gabon at Ghana 5 PM Accra
Namibia at Guinea 5 PM Conakry
Syria at United Arab Emirates 8 PM Al Ain City
Sudan at Mali 6 PM Bamako
Uzbekistan at Saudi Arabia 9 PM Riyadh
Malawi at Egypt 9 PM Cairo
Panamá at El Salvador 12 PM San Salvador
United States of America at Barbados 3 PM Bridgetown
Suriname at Guyana 3:30 PM Georgetown
Antigua and Barbuda at Cuba 5 PM Havana
Haiti at Netherlands Antilles 6 PM Willemstad
Trinidad and Tobago at Bermuda 7:30 PM Prospect

June 28, 2008
Lesotho at Gabon 3:30 PM Libreville

Postponed
Chad at Sudan

Bermuda win; Bahamas advance on technicality

In the first of two matches today, the Bahamas faced the British Virgin Islands at home in Nassua for the second time in five days. Coming into the second leg with the aggregate tied at 1-1, the favored Bahamanians felt pressure to deliver a first round victory over their opponents. The Bahamas looked to be in great position to meet Jamaica in June after nabbing a two-goal lead before the hour. Even after British Virgin Islands' captain Anadale Williams knocked home a goal late in the second half, it appeared to be too little, too late. Suddenly, in the nintieth minute, Williams struck again and the final whistle came with the scored tied at 2-2.

The aggregate was now tied at 3-3 apiece. With both legs having been played in Nassau, surely extra time was to be played. Unfortunately, a terrible decision was handed down. Because the British Virgin Islands had forfeited the right to a home game to the Bahamas, the second game had actually counted as a "road" game for Bahamas. Bahamas scored twice in their "road" match compared to the British Virgin Islands' one in the first match and advanced on the road-goals tiebreaker 2-1. This ruling was an absolute travesty. If anything, British Virgin Islands should have advanced 3-0 on the road-goals tiebreaker. In all honesty, though, this tie should have gone to an extra period followed by a penalty-kick shootout should the scored have remained tied at the end of an additional half hour.

"We missed all our chances, but we should have scored four or five. We will make things right in the second leg." -Keith Tucker, coach of Bermuda

In a tie that also began the day knotted at one goal apiece, Bermuda visited the Cayman Islands. Bermuda did not allowed for an upset result this time around and built a 2-0 lead going into the half. Another goal stretched the lead to three before the hour mark. The Caymans had already garnered four yellow cards before Bermuda's Kevin Richards earned their only yellow for taking down a Cayman player inside of the penalty area. The ensuing Cayman penalty-kick goal rounded out the scoring 3-1. The 4-2 aggregate victory sends Bermuda to face Trinidad and Tobago in round two of CONCACAF qualifying in June.

Goal scorers:
Bahamas: Bethel 40; Mitchell 52

British Virgin Islands: Williams 78, 90

Bermuda: DeGraff 18, 25; Steede 52

Cayman Islands: Forbes 63 PK

Puerto Rico win 1-0 in extra time; Antigua and Barbuda, El Salvador, Netherlands Antilles, Belize advance

Antigua and Barbuda went home to face Aruba with a comfortable 3-0 lead in the aggregate. The Antiguans did not do themselves any favors, however, by having two players ejected before the hour mark, including their captain George Dublin right before halftime. Schyan Jeffers also picked up a red card. If Aruba had any hope of scoring three goals, it increased exponentially with the two-man advantage. Unfortunately, the Arubans were unable to do anything to score and in fact gave up a goal with the huge advantage. They were lucky to surrender only one because Antiguan player Troy Simon missed a penalty kick during the match. Damien Farrell picked up two yellows after the eighty-fifth minute, including one in stoppage, and was also sent off. Antigua and Barbuda finished the game with only eight players yet came out with a 1-0 win as well. It is too bad that the Antiguans decided to be on their absolute worst behavior, because now three starting players are suspended for the first match against Cuba.

Neighbors Puerto Rico and Dominican Republic had a one-off battle in Bayamón. It was expected to be intense, but it was not expected to be close as Puerto Rico were heavy favorites. Well, the match ended up being one for the ages. In fact, ninety mintues were not enough to determine a victor. A scoreless regular time gave way to a dramatic extra period. Both coaches had been stingy with their substitutions in regular time; Dominican Republic had one left and Puerto Rico still had two. Puerto Rico converted a penalty six minutes in and promptly focused on retaining the slim margin. When the final whistle blew, the Puerto Ricans could breath a sigh of relief, knowing that the one-goal shutout was good enough to give them a shot at Honduras.

El Salvador had their victory parade in the form of a second match against hapless Anguilla. Going home with a 12-0 aggregate lead, the Salvadorians had little to play for but boosting their goal totals. Anguilla were playing to salvage their pride. With a date to play Panamá all but assured, El Salvador grabbed a four-goal lead in the first half and then coasted into the second round with a 16-0 aggregate romp.

Netherlands Antilles came home to Willemstad with a surprising 1-0 aggregate lead over Nicaragua. The return leg was also remarkably successful for Netherlands Antilles. After taking a one-goal lead into the half, the crowd in Willemstad was witness to a mental implosion by Nicaragua's Eustace Martin, who pulled drew two yellow cards in a two-minute span and was expelled from the game at the hour mark. Down a man, the Nicaraguans needed a miracle, but none came and the final score in Willemstad was 2-0. The two cards for Martin were part of a collection of five yellows in total for Nicaragua. Netherlands Antilles will face Haiti in the next round.

Belize were looking to book a second round date with México. The only thing standing in their way was the team from St. Kitts and Nevis, a dangerous outfit despite a 3-1 aggregate deficit. The crowd at Basseterre was hoping for their home side to make a comeback in the tie, but a late goal in the first half by Belize meant that St. Kitts and Nevis had to score three goals in order to send the tie into extra time. They managed to pull one goal back, but it was too little too late and now Belize can look forward to facing their powerful neighbor in June.

Goal scorers:
Antigua and Barbuda: Challenger 86

Puerto Rico: Villegas 96 PK

El Salvador: Cerritos 8; Corrales 15; Monteagudo 23; Torres 35

Netherlands Antilles: Loran 42; Zimmerman 81

Belize: E. Smith 41

St. Kitts and Nevis: Mitchum 82

Barbados 1 - Dominica 0; Grenada, St. Lucia, Suriname advance; Bahamas tie

"There's no reason we can't get right at them in that second leg and get their fans on their backs." -Richard Pacquette of Dominica

Barbados were not pleased with their situation heading into the second leg. They felt that they were the favorites heading into the tie against Dominica and were looking to improve upon the 1-1 aggregate scoreline. No goals were scored in a tense first half. In the sixty-second minute, an odd situation broke out. Rashida Williams of Barbados was given a red card, but the captain of Dominica Colin Bernard was also shown red. The game proceeded with ten-on-ten action and Barbadoes wound up victorious on a lone goal scored within ten minutes of full time. The United States of America wait for Barbados now that they have won their first round tie 2-1 on aggregate goals.

"We have made enough improvements in the past few years to give them a game. We are optimistic about our chances and it will not be an easy walkover for Grenada."- Dwight Ferguson of the United States Virgin Islands

Grenada took all of the drama out of their one-leg tie with the United States Virgin Islands and in the process made Ferguson sound foolish. They showed absolutely no mercy to their overmatched opponents, taking a 5-0 lead into half time and then coasting to a 10-0 win in St. George's. Costa Rica should prove to be more of a challenge for Grenada in the second round.

St. Lucia were down 2-1 in the aggregate to surprising Turks and Caicos Islands. With a ticket to play Guatemala at stake, the Lucians did not want to disappoint their faithful in Vieux Fort. A goal in the first half tied the aggregate score at 2-2, but it put the pressure on Turks and Caicos Islands because they were down in the road-goals tiebreaker. The visitors were unable to respond and in fact surrendered a second goal to lose the match 2-0 and the tie 3-2.

Suriname played Montserrat in a one-leg playoff held in Trinidad and Tobago. The South American nation made easy meat out of the British tiny island, although the game was much closer in the first half. Suriname broke the scoring seal in the thirty-sixth minute and had a 2-0 lead at halftime. Montserrat came out of the gates quickly in the second half and knocked home a goal within five minutes of the restart to make it 2-1. That is when the avalanche of Suriname goals began. Eventually, the score wound up 7-1 and Suriname will now meet neighbors Guyana, the only other South American team playing in CONCACAF.

Bahamas were playing host to British Virgin Islands for the first time on Wednesday. After a scoreless first half, the Bahamas bagged their first goal quickly after the second half began. The visiting underdogs were not about to go away, though, and fought back to come out with a 1-1 tie. In what could be considered questionable coaching, there were no substitutes made by the Bahamanians in the entire match. The Bahamas will host the British Virgin Islands again on Sunday with a berth in the second round against Jamaica at stake.

Goal scorers:
Barbados: Stanford 84

Grenada: J. Roberts 3, 8; Charles 9, 43, 87; Rennie 22; Langiagne 56; Bubb 82, 83; Ferguson 89 OG (United States Virgin Islands)

St. Lucia: McPhee 28; Elva 85

Suriname: Cristoph 36, 55; Wondel 44; Valies 64; Huur 80; Schurman 86, 88

Montserrat: Farrell 48

Bahamas: St. Fleur 47

British Virgin Islands: Lennon 76

Bahrain 1 - Japan 0; Jordan, Qatar win; two exhilarating draws

Turkmenistan and Jordan were looking to avoid last place in Group C. With a two-goal shutout, Jordan took all of the points on the road in Ashgabat to send Turkmenistan into the cellar. Jordan are now positioned in third place in the group with three points, one behind each of the Koreas.

Syria hosted group leaders United Arab Emirates and got off to a quick start. The hosts pushed home a goal two minutes after the whistle. Still, the United Arab Emirates were not going down without a fight and they ended up scoring an equalizer due to the scoring prowess of Ismail Matar in the second half. The road draw puts the Emiratis on top of Group E with four points.

Bahrain pulled off the shock of the day while playing host to Japan. The two group leaders heading into the day, Bahrain and Japan were looking toward this game as the stepping stone into first place. The ball was having trouble finding its way into the back of the net until Bahrain struck gold with a header off of a cross in minute seventy-seven to send Japan reeling and the crowd in Manāmah into a frenzy. The scoreline held and Bahrain took first place in Gorup B with the 1-0 win.

Qatar, off of a big loss to Australia, tried to salvage a better result at home in Doha against the defending Asian Cup champions Iraq. Qatar did that and more with a wonderful, flowing attacking game and a stifling defense. Iraq never looked to be in the game and perhaps the 2-0 victory for Qatar does not illustrate how the Qataris so completely controlled the game. Qatar's coach Jorge Fossati spoke about the performance. "On this occasion we stuck with our game plan and managed to break up Iraq's fluid passing game. That will give us confidence for the games ahead."

Kuwait welcomed perennial power Iran to town. The crowd in Kuwait City could not have been pleased with the start of the match as Iran knocked home two goals in the first five minutes. It appeared that the Iranians would rout the Kuwaitis and make up for their opening draw with Syria. The Kuwaitis had other ideas. They stormed back into the match with a goal to make the score 2-1 at the half. A goal with under ten minutes remaining meant that Kuwait would at least come out with a point at home against mighty Iran. The final score read 2-2. Mesaed Al Enezi was sent off for Kuwait with a red card just before the final whistle to cap a tough battle which featured three yellows for each side.

Goal scorers:
Jordan: Albzoor 33; Bawab 86

Syria: Chaabo 2

United Arab Emirates: Matar 54

Bahrain: Hubail 77

Qatar: Quintana 1; Montesin 67

Iran: Vahedi 2; Hosseini 4

Kuwait: Al Azemi 38; Alrashidi 81

Uzbekistan 3 - Saudi Arabia 0; Singapore, Oman win; two scoreless draws

China played host to undermanned Australia in the elevated city of Kunming. Five of Australia's English-based players were unable to come play due to injury. TO make matters worse, Archie Thompson succumbed to an injury in the tenth minute and had to be substituted out of the game. With their only true attack of the day failing to connect when Marco Bresciano's volley was saved by Zong Lei, the Australians had little chance of winning. Luckily for the Australians, goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer did manage to show up healthy and complete the game. He made clutch save after clutch save to keep the game scoreless until the eighty-seventh minute when he made a crucial error, taking down Qu Bo inside the box for a penalty kick. Schwarzer made up for his mistake on the very next play, however, stuffing Shao Jiayi's penalty kick and preserving the road tie for Australia. "I must apologise to the team and the fans for that penalty kick," said Shao Jiayi after the game. "Because of me we did not win the game. We should have won the game but we didn't because I missed the penalty kick. I really feel bad about this." Schwarzer had a different take. "To lose that match to a late penalty would have been a disaster for us because I thought we deserved to get something out of the game."

The second slate of games began with North Korea facing off against neighboring South Korea in Shanghai, China. Both teams were coming off of wins in February and were looking to consolidate their positions on top of Group C. Although South Korea dominated most of the goal-scoring chances, this game ended in a scoreless draw. "We should have won this match," said South Korea's Park Ji-Sung. "We couldn't finish around the net."

Uzbekistan played host to group favorites Saudi Arabia in Tashkent. In what amounted to one of the bigger surprises so far in Asian qualifying, the Uzbeks pushed across the first goal during stoppage time in the first half. A two-goals-in-three-minutes run did in the Saudis for good as Uzbekistan won by a resounding 3-0 score and now sit atop Group D with six points.

Singapore and Lebanon did battle in Singapore. Singapore are the surprise qualifiers out of both rounds one and two, but they had suffered a loss to Saudi Arabia in February's qualifier. That memory was erased on this night. Two goals in the first thirty minutes gave Singapore a nice cushion which they held on to for the rest of the night. Singapore won 2-0. Lebanese coach Emile Rustom was not very complimentary of Singapore after the game, citing the fact that some of his starters were unavailable due to injury. "It was expected. We were missing four key players; you can imagine Singapore without four players."

Thailand hosted Oman. Oman scored the fastest goal of the day in Asian qualifying, delivering the opening blow just twenty seconds into the match. There were no more goals scored for the rest of the day, however, and the visiting Omanis stole three points. Oman's coach Julio César Ribas spoke after the match. "To win three points away from home is hugely important. We can now continue fighting for qualification."

Goal scorers:
Uzbekistan: Kapadze 45+1; Shatskikh 65; Djeparov 67 PK

Singapore: Duric 8; Shahul 24

Oman: Al Ajmi 1

Eritrea withdraw

Eritrea have withdrawn from World Cup qualifying. Their spot in Group K will be left empty.

Togo, Zambia, and Swaziland will contest their games as previously scheduled. The top finisher in the group will go to the third round of African qualifying. There has been no word yet on how this change will affect how the top eight second-place finishers will be selected. Will only the results against the first-place and third-place finishers count in determining the top eight or will the second-place team from Group K be automatically eliminated?