Qatar first to qualify for Asian Cup
JEDDAH — Saudi Arabia striker Mohammad Al-Sahlawi scored five goals to lead his team to a 10-0 thumping of East Timor in their World Cup qualifier in Dili Tuesday.
Al-Sahlawi, who has been one of the standout performers during the Asian qualifiers, scored twice in the first half then three more times in the second as Saudi Arabia made light work of its outclassed opponent.
Yahya Al-Shehri, Osama Hawsawi, Taisir Al-Jassim, Naif Hazazi and Fahad Al-Muwallad also got on the scoresheet while the home side's woes were compounded when Adelino De Oliviera was sent off in the 88th minute for picking up a second booking.
Saudi Arabia's emphatic win extended its lead at the top of the Group A standings to six points and left it in a commanding position to advance to the third qualifying round.
The eight group winners and four best runners-up will all progress to the next phase and also book a spot at the 2019 Asian Cup.
Unbeaten in six matches, the Green Falcons have 16 points with two games to go.
United Arab Emirates remained on its tail in second place after it beat Malaysia 2-1 in an empty stadium in Kuala Lumpur as the host served out a punishment for crowd trouble in their previous home defeat by the Saudis.
Al-Sahwali has been the driving force behind his team's success and is the leading scorer in the tournament with 12 goals from five matches.
"These are three important points and it was important to win here," Al-Sahlawi said in a televised interview. "It is not important who scored the goals but the win is the important thing. I hope this result will help us to keep our position till the end."
The 28-year-old also scored three goals against the Timorese in its previous meeting in Jeddah in September and showed no mercy against the same opponents Tuesday.
East Timor, winless in its seven qualifiers, was without seven naturalized Brazilians following complaints about their eligibility after they earlier helped their adopted country draw with Malaysia and Palestine.
"It may seem to be an easy win, but it is not that easy after all players exerted their maximum effort," Saudi Arabia's Dutch coach Bert van Marwijk said, speaking through a translator.
Qatar, meanwhile, became the first side to book a spot at the 2019 Asian Cup and the next round of 2018 World Cup qualifiers.
With the Asian Football Confederation reeling from Monday's news that one of its pillars, Nepal's Ganesh Thapa, had been banned for 10 years for taking money during FIFA elections, Asia's best tried to switch focus back to onfield events but other issues were evident.
Qatar, the 2022 World Cup host, was 3-0 winner over Bhutan at Changlimithang Stadium in the Thimphu mountains and it secured top spot in Group C when Hong Kong and China then played out a 0-0 draw in a politically tense clash.
Home fans booed during the playing of China's national anthem and held up defiant banners at the Mong Kok Stadium, where there was a heavy police presence with organizers wary of trouble following last year's pro-democracy rallies.
The draw left Hong Kong in position to grab second place in the group behind Qatar which has won all six matches.
Cambodia, whose domestic champion Phnom Penh Crown FC has been hit by a match-fixing scandal which has led to seven players being suspended, was beaten 2-0 by Japan, which stayed clear in Group E.
Syria kept pace in second spot, one point back, after it struck in the 93rd minute to beat Singapore 2-1 at the citystate's National Stadium.
Tuesday's 14-match schedule in Asia was kicked off by Iran beating US territory Guam 6-0 away despite four of its players and two members of staff being refused visas to enter the tiny island.
Elsewhere, Asian champion Australia put aside security concerns in Dhaka to beat Bangladesh 4-0 in Group B, while South Korea crushed Laos 5-0 in Vientiane to make it six wins from six in Group G, which still contains Kuwait despite the country serving a FIFA ban.
The heavy defeat capped a bad week for Laos, whose football federation president Viphet Sihachakr was banned for two years Monday and fined after accepting payments during the 2011 FIFA elections.
Indonesia, also serving a FIFA ban for political interference like Kuwait, has been kicked out of competing in Group F, where Iraq kept up its pursuit of leader Thailand with a 2-0 win in Taiwan.
AFC President Shaikh Salman Bin Ebrahim Al-Khalifa, who is standing for the FIFA Presidency in February elections, is the man currently charged with clearing up the problems in Asian football. His Bahrain team lost 2-0 in North Korea which all but ended its bid to reach Russia 2018.
In late matches: Turkmenistan edged Oman 2-1; Kyrgyzstan beat Jordan 1-0 and Uzbekistan downed Yemen 3-1.
