Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Incheon: Reigning champions Japan suffered a setback as they lost 3-1 to Iraq in their second match at the 17th Asian Games at Goyang Stadium on Wednesday.
The Guangzhou 2010 winners were drawing 1-1 at the break, but two goals in the second period saw Iraq secure all three points against a Japan side who had opened their campaign on a positive note with a 4-1 victory over Kuwait.
Humam Tareq Faraj opened the scoring for Iraq on 12 minutes before Shoya Nakajima equalised on the 36th minute mark. Ali Adnan then scored twice (48’, 72’) to give Hakeem Shakir Flayyih Al Azzawi’s side a comprehensive win in the Group D match.
In Group A, Malaysia beat Laos 4-0 with Mohamad Aidil Zafuan Abd Radzak (12’), Mohd Nor Farhan Muhammad (76’), Mohamad Fandi Othman (79’) and Muhammad Ferris Danial Mat Nasir (83’) all scoring for Ong Kim Swee’s side.
Palestine downed Tajikistan 2-1 in their Group C tie at Hwaseong Sports Complex Main Stadium with Siyovush Asrorov drawing first blood on 30 minutes. Samira Mohammed FM Maraaba then netted for Palestine four minutes later, while Helal MY Mousa registered the Palestinians’ second and ultimately winning goal on 37 minutes.
Meanwhile, Kuwait clinched their first win as they whipped Nepal 5-0 in Group D at Goyang Stadium. Sami Al Sanea contributed a triple (67, 73, 87) while Fahad Al Hamdan (19’) and Faisal Al Azemi (83’) scored a goal apiece.
Hosts Korea Republic sealed their second win in two games as they beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 thanks to a Kim Seung-dae effort on 12 minutes at Ansan Wa Stadium.
In the final game of the day, Oman and Singapore drew 3-3 in their Group C encounter with Hatem Khamis Jamaial Hamhami (11’), Abdul Majeed Said Dawil Shamas (25’) and Saud Khamis Eid Farsi (29’) on target for Hamed Khalifa Hamed Azani’s side.
Singapore, however, earned a share of the spoils courtesy of strikes from Sahil Suhaimi (12’), Faris Ramli (43’) and Safuwan Baharudin (85’).