Thu, 28 Oct, 2021
Dammam: Two goals in first-half stoppage-time laid the foundations for Saudi Arabia’s 3-0 win over Hong Kong in the first leg of their 2014 FIFA World Cup second round qualifier on Saturday.
With half-time at the Prince Mohammed bin Fahad Stadium looming it was appearing that the four-time World Cup qualifiers and the East Asian minnows would be going into the break locked at 0-0.
However, Al Shabab striker Nasser Al Shamrani broke the deadlock a minute into first-half stoppage time and with the fans in Dammam having barely stopped celebrating the 2010/11 Saudi League top scorer’s opener, Osama Al Harbi doubled the home side’s lead two minutes later.
After conceding two quick-fire goals at the end of the first-half the last thing Hong Kong needed was to be breeched again at the start of the second, but that’s exactly what happened to the visitors just two minutes after the restart when Al Shamrani scored his second and Saudi Arabia’s third.
The floodgates didn’t open after that as Hong Kong regrouped and shut out the Saudis for the remainder of the match but Liu Chun Fai’s side face a Herculean task to turn the tie around when the three-time AFC Asian Cup champions visit the former British colony for the return fixture on Thursday.