Qatar 1-0 China [Sebastain Soria]

Soria spot kick seals Qatar win
Sebastian Soria celebrates scoring the winner against China. (AFP)
Sebastian Soria celebrates scoring the winner against China. (AFP)
TIANJIN -- Sebastian Soria converted an early penalty as Qatar edged China 1-0 at the Olympic Sports Center Stadium on Saturday to take a giant step towards the final round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers.

Soria sent goalkeeper Song Zhenyu the wrong way from the spot after 14 minutes and the visitors hung on despite conceding the majority of possession to the home side, who lacked imagination in the final third to break down the massed Qatari defence.

The win consolidated Qatar's second place in Group One as they moved up to seven points, four clear of the Chinese with two games remaining for both teams.

Australia, who lead the group on goal difference, meet Iraq in Dubai later on Saturday.

China nearly enjoyed a dream start as a headed clearance by Junior Marcone dropped on the edge of the Qatari box to Gao Lin, who volleyed just wide after 30 seconds.

The Chinese went even closer in the 11th minute as skipper Zheng Zhi centred from the right by-line to Zhu Ting, who flicked the ball with his right heel against the post.

The hosts were in the ascendancy but it was the Qataris who struck the decisive blow three minutes later when Lebanese referee Tallat Najm pointed to the spot after Yusef Ali was pulled down in the box by Gao Lin and Soria coolly dispatched the penalty.

China enjoyed plenty of possession in the first half but were unable to find a way past their opponents who defended in numbers, giving the home side barely a sniff on goal.

It was not until the 54th minute that the Chinese had another decent attempt on goal as Zheng Zhi's free-kick from 20 metres curled narrowly wide of Mohamed Saqr's right post.

Three minutes later, a deep cross from the right by Hao Junmin found Du Zhenyu at the far post. The substitute drove the ball into the six-yard box but Gao Lin was unable to control the ball which ricocheted wide off his right foot.

Cao Yang then released Zheng with an excellent through ball but Saqr came off his line quickly to smother the ball at the feet of the Chinese captain.

The Chinese continued to enjoy the majority of possession but grew increasingly frustrated by the time-wasting tactics of the Qataris which gradually squeezed the life out of the game.

Their frustration boiled over when Sun Jihai was sent off from the Chinese bench for remonstrating with the referee.

China's final effort came from Huang, who shot wide from 25 metres while Soria nearly grabbed a second for Qatar with a low drive from similar range that was well stopped by Song Zhenyu.

Category:

Sports

Tags:

• qatar
• china
• austrailia
• iraq
• world
• cup
• football
• qualifying
• العنابي

[iraqigirl2death]

lol "qatar" , they r only 3 players hwo rly play good, and all 3 r not from qatar, well keep being proud ;)

[alinasser6]

Thy r Hussain yasser(played man city,braga sporting,boavista,ahli egypt)....Khalfan IBrahim (Asian player of the year 2006

),,,,Waleed jassim(GOLDEN BOY)..But the Qatari F.A is mad...thy r bringing new players nd making good qatari players on da bench...not my problem!!!

[iraqigirl2death]

thats the problem in the arab world...we always think that players from europa and america is better that us...and real we have much better. good luck !

[alinasser6]

ya....o know...i wanted qatar nd iraq 2 go thru...best of luck for iraqiis...

[adamkiksyou]

@iraqigirl2death Man shut up.

[Miliuba]

Whoah!! China really had bad luck!

[grim581]

yes a not qatari just like 80% of the rest of youre shitty team

[arshavinKatyusha]

i  must say.

it's not a Penalty .

[migaboyz]

thanks to Sebastain Soria

[Mitsurugi1991]

the prablem in arab soccer teams is that they dont beleave in themselfs , most of em atleest

[iraqiii2]

Qatar have no dignity. They'll never reach the World Cup.

[qatarboy1089]

هيه انتي شبلاج قطر تاج راسج وكل لعيبة منتخب قطر قطرين فاهمة مو مثل لعيبة العراق كلهم أكراد و إيرانين

[qatarboy1089]

if you dont know qatar is better than your lame country lool dont say this to qatar please

[tatsuyatwothree]

fuck china sucks...

losing to a little country like qatar..shame