موشُکُلِه

ASIAN CUP 2007

INDONESIA  MALAYSIA  THAILAND  VIETNAM

2006/۹/۳

Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium, Jeddah, KSA
۲۰:۳0

 Saudi Arabia   1 - 1   Japan

                                                                                                Saleh Bashir 73

JEDDAH – Saleh Bashir struck in the second half as Saudi Arabia defeated Japan 1-0 in their 2007 AFC Asian Cup qualifier at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium on Sunday, avenging their loss to the Japanese in the final of Lebanon 2000.

The two Asian powerhouses were locking horns for the first time in a competitive match since the back-to-back continental champions defeated the Saudis 1-0 in Beirut and Bashir’s strike ensured the tables were turned eight years later.

The Al Ittifaq forward netted the crucial goal in the 73rd minute when he took possession of a deflected ball inside the area to drill the ball past Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi and steer his side to the all-important victory.

The Saudis side started the game brightly and had the first chance of the match - which was postponed from March to enable both sides to prepare for their 2006 FIFA World Cup campaign - with Eissa Al Mahyani’s 11th minute header going narrowly wide.

Japan came back strongly and Tatsuya Tanaka almost broke the deadlock on the half-hour mark but was denied by the sharp reflexes of Mohammad Khojah, who was at full-stretch four minutes later to save Yasohito Endo’s 30-yard curler.

The home side upped the tempo at the start of the second half and were almost gifted the opener three minutes after the restart when Kawaguchi’s miss hit goal kick went straight to Hussain Sulaimani but the Saudi skipper failed to beat the Japan keeper from the edge of the area.

Japan regained the initiative and they nearly took the lead on the hour mark after Khojah failed to deal with Akira Kaji’s cross but Alex blasted the ball over the bar.

Alex was again at fault in the 72nd minute when he shot wide from inside the penalty area and the Brazil-born Urawa Reds winger and his Japan team-mates were left to rue their profligacy 60 seconds later when the Saudis scored the only goal of the game.

Mohammed Haidar’s shot from the edge of the area blocked but the ball found its way to Bashir who made no mistake from 10 yards out to put the Saudis ahead.