FIFA World Cup Qualifying 2014: Singapore 1 - Malaysia 1; Vietnam 2 - Qatar 1; United Arab Emirates 2

Thursday, July 28, 2011

Singapore 1 - Malaysia 1; Vietnam 2 - Qatar 1; United Arab Emirates 2 - India 2

Qatar paid a visit to Southeast Asia for its second round, second leg match against Vietnam. Qatar had a 3-0 aggregate lead in the bag, but Vietnam did not want to surrender its FIFA World Cup dreams just yet. A goal from Qatar at the quarter hour provided Qatar with the road goals tiebreaker, forcing Vietnam to respond with five goals in order to advance.

The impossible task had seen no progress by the close of the half, with Qatar still leading 1-0. However, Vietnam did score at the hour mark and with just under a quarter hour left in the match. The two goals were sufficient for a 2-1 Vietnamese victory on the day but insufficient for progressing to the next round of qualifying. Qatar advance to see their fate at the preliminary draw.

Singapore had escaped their home leg against rivals Malaysia with a two-goal aggregate series lead, but they knew the going would be tough in Kuala Lumpur. Malaysia were confident they could turn the deficit around because they had a three road goals in their favor, meaning a 2-0 or 3-1 or even 4-2 victory would equate to a series victory. However, Malaysia needed to win by two goals, something that seemed far away after a scoreless first leg surely left the fans anxious for some goals quickly.

Just before the hour mark, Malaysia energized its campaign with a goal, bringing the aggregate score to 5-4 Singapore. Malaysia only needed one more goal to even the score and lead Singapore on road goals! Malaysia were prodding for the goal, but then fifteen minutes after Malaysia's goal, Singapore notched an equalizer, leaving Malaysia needing to score twice in the quarter hour. It did not happen. The teams tied 1-1 on the night and Singapore advanced 6-4 on aggregate scoring, vanquishing their fiercest rivals in the process. Singapore survives to learn its fate in two days' time.

India were stunned by the poor officiating that doomed that to defeat in the first leg of their series against the United Arab Emirates. The Indian capital New Delhi was the site for the second encounter. This time, UAE set out to erase all doubt that they were in fact the better team, poor officiating or not. The field was sopping wet from a recent downpour, meaning the ball did not roll naturally during this encounter but instead would stop much shorter than usual. UAE found the only goal of the first half with barely five minutes to go, pushing the aggregate lead to 4-0 and forcing India to score five times to advance.

UAE continued searching for a win on the night to silence their doubters, and the victory appeared secured after a second goal rattled in off the crossbar twenty minutes from time. India, at this point all but eliminated, did not want UAE to have the satisfaction of a road victory. Two minutes after UAE's second, India struck. In second half stoppage time, the equalizer came, leaving the match drawn at 2-2 and India wondering what could have been had they been given a fairer officiating job in the first leg. UAE never proved themselves superior, but they advance to the AFC Thrid Round nonetheless with a deceivingly large margin of victory in the aggregate score, 5-2.

India's qualifying campaign eerily reflected its 2010 campaign. In 2010 qualifying as in the 2014 edition, India lost their first leg by three goals on the road, only to tie their return home leg 2-2 with an equalizer in second half stoppage time.

Goals:

Vietnam

Nguyen Trong Hoang 60

Nguyen Quang Hai 78

Qatar

Yousef Ahmed Ali 16

Malaysia

Mohd Sali 58

Singapore

Jia Yi Shi 73

United Arab Emirates

Mohamed Al Shehhi 39