Arab teams power up for Asia Cup

By Khalil Hareb in Amman
For Al-Shorfa.com
2010-01-09

[ADAM JAN/AFP/Getty Images] Bahrain (in red) defeated Hong Kong 4-0 Wednesday, Jan 6th to qualify for the 2011 Asia Cup.

The grit of several Arab teams was on display Wednesday (January 6th) during the "survival of the fittest" matches held to determine qualifiers for the 2011 Asia Cup in Qatar. Visitor Japan sealed a 3-2 win against Yemen to qualify, while Bahrain did likewise by hosting Hong Kong and earning a decisive 4-0 victory.

Both teams earned 12 points and left behind third-place Yemen, which has just 3 points in Group A.

Meanwhile, Iran also booked a seat in the finals, beating Singapore 3-1 on their own pitch. And both Thailand and Jordan gained 1 point each by battling to a draw in Bangkok. This leaves Jordan's Brave Men, the Thailand War Elephants and Singapore's Lions fighting for the second-place qualifier behind Iran in Group E.

Syria also clawed its way into the finals, after a 0-0 draw with host China. The Syrian team leads Group D with 11 points followed by China with 10 points, leaving Vietnam in third with 5 points and Lebanon in last place with only 1 point.

The UAE, not to be outdone, fired up fans in Dubai by beating Malaysia 1-0. The Falcons scored the only goal in the last minute of the game to book a seat in the finals alongside Uzbekistan, the leader of Group C. In Group B, Kuwait has 8 points, keeping them tied with Australia, while Oman has 7 points and Indonesia 3. The fate of that group is still undecided as matches on March 3rd will determine the two qualifying teams.

Elsewhere in football, Egypt's national team returned home on Wednesday after sweating through an arduous training camp in Dubai as part of CAN finals preparations. The Pharaohs, winner of the 2006 African Cup of Nations, played a friendly match against Mali, defeating the Eagles 1-0 on January 4th. Egypt is part of Group C along with Nigeria, Mozambique and Benin. The Pharaohs' first opponent is Nigeria on January 12th.

In other sports, several teams fought for first place in the Kuwaiti Basketball League on Wednesday. Qadsia took on Tadamon and earned a big victory, 86-59. In Kuwait City, visitors Jahra won an 84-83 nail-biter over Kuwait Club. In other games, Sahel dealt a crushing 71-58 defeat to Arabi in an away match, and Kazma defeated Nasar 88-81.

In volleyball, Kazma was crowned the winner of the 2009-2010 Kuwait Volleyball Championship. Kazma grabbed their first title by beating Qadsia 3-1 on January 7th. It's now a fight for second and third place. Kuwait Club, Arabi and Qadsia will be battling it out for those slots on January 11-12. Qadsia won the last three titles, so they are desperate to finish with at least a face-saving second place finish.

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