Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Muscat: An Oday Al Jafal goal proved the difference as Syria beat Singapore to claim top spot in Group E of the FIFA World Cup 2018 and AFC Asian Cup 2019 qualifiers on Thursday.
The victory lifts Syria, who had beaten Afghanistan in their opener, above the Singaporeans who now find themselves in second spot ahead of Japan following the Samurai Blue’s 3-0 defeat of Cambodia in the group’s earlier game.
Hafiz Abu Sujad and Khairul Amri could have given Singapore a first half lead at the Sultan Qaboos Sports Complex in Muscat, before the crucial breakthrough came in the 59th minute when Sanharib Malki crossed for Al Jafal to head home past visiting custodian Izwan Mahbud.
Amri went on to hit an upright and spurn a glorious to equalise late on as Syria gave themselves a major boost ahead of next Tuesday’s trip to Cambodia. Singapore are next in action on October 8 when they entertain Afghanistan.
The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 AFC Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 FIFA World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup.
Photo: AFP