I’ve really enjoyed the Asian qualifying groups so far, they’re wars of attrition, and have typical seen some mammoth scores being posted. This is how the first round of qualifying in Asia is shaping up:
So today’s top two seeds are Malaysia and Indonesia, both of whom had their own sides last year. Malaysia claimed some excellent results and narrowly missed out on getting through from a very exciting qualification group. Indonesia were slightly less impressive, but were still competitive. So we might expect them to be favourites in this group, but Qatar (who were part of the woefully underperforming Middle East side last time) have none other than Xavi in their midfield to run the show for them. The other five teams had no 2017 representation, so they might struggle to challenge the top three seeds here.
Indonesia have bolstered their site from last year with three stunning additions – brace yourself – as they now have the African ex-Premier League trio of Michael Essien, Mohamed Sissoko and Peter friggin’ Odemwingie. Incredible. Anyway, they start with an assertive 5-0 win over Myanmar, with five different scorers. Malaysia also got off to a good start, easily overcoming East Timor 3-1. The other group favourites, Qatar, had a much less easy time of it, as they scraped to a 1-0 thanks to Xavi’s fine pass to set up Youssef El Arabi. Elsewhere, Fernando’s 95th-minute strike gave the Philippines a 2-1 win over Oman.
If Oman thought that was cruel, that’s nothing compared to the fate they inflicted on East Timor. Down 2-0 with 16 minutes left, Imad Al-Hoseni pulled one back for Oman. In the final minute of normal time he lashed in the equaliser, and just over a minute later he’d completed his hat-trick for an incredible 3-2 win. Malaysia also squeaked through 3-2 against Myanmar thanks to Yashir Pinto’s neat finish. Qatar had the better of their visit to the Philippines, but could only earn a 1-1 draw. The highest-scoring game was in Jordan, where the hosts’ attacking flair led them to an excellent 5-3 win over Indonesia.
This is beginning to look like quite an open group, and the only side with a 100% record, Malaysia, had that ended by the Jordanians, who came from 3-1 behind to claim a 3-3 draw. A similar match occurred between Indonesia and Philippines; this time it was Indonesia who came back from 3-1 behind to claim the draw. It was more straightforward for Myanmar and Qatar, who both claimed 2-0 wins, over East Timor and Oman respectively.
Indonesia have bolstered their site from last year with three stunning additions – brace yourself – as they now have the African ex-Premier League trio of Michael Essien, Mohamed Sissoko and Peter friggin’ Odemwingie. Incredible. Anyway, they start with an assertive 5-0 win over Myanmar, with five different scorers. Malaysia also got off to a good start, easily overcoming East Timor 3-1. The other group favourites, Qatar, had a much less easy time of it, as they scraped to a 1-0 thanks to Xavi’s fine pass to set up Youssef El Arabi. Elsewhere, Fernando’s 95th-minute strike gave the Philippines a 2-1 win over Oman.
If Oman thought that was cruel, that’s nothing compared to the fate they inflicted on East Timor. Down 2-0 with 16 minutes left, Imad Al-Hoseni pulled one back for Oman. In the final minute of normal time he lashed in the equaliser, and just over a minute later he’d completed his hat-trick for an incredible 3-2 win. Malaysia also squeaked through 3-2 against Myanmar thanks to Yashir Pinto’s neat finish. Qatar had the better of their visit to the Philippines, but could only earn a 1-1 draw. The highest-scoring game was in Jordan, where the hosts’ attacking flair led them to an excellent 5-3 win over Indonesia.
This is beginning to look like quite an open group, and the only side with a 100% record, Malaysia, had that ended by the Jordanians, who came from 3-1 behind to claim a 3-3 draw. A similar match occurred between Indonesia and Philippines; this time it was Indonesia who came back from 3-1 behind to claim the draw. It was more straightforward for Myanmar and Qatar, who both claimed 2-0 wins, over East Timor and Oman respectively.
Quirino gave East Timor a shock lead against Qatar. However, East Timor then immediately lost Dan Ito to a second yellow card. Qatar finally forced an equaliser in the 85th minute, but in the 94th minute one long pass released Quirino, and he sensationally chipped in the winning goal from 20 yards out. Another shock occurred when Oman cruised to a 3-1 win over Indonesia. Jordan eased past Myanmar 4-1 to continue their qualification push, whilst Philippines and Malaysia drew 3-3 to preserve their own unbeaten records.
Indonesia and Qatar faced a crunch match as neither team had begun as they expected. Xavi got his first goal of the campaign with a thunderous strike, which led Qatar to a 2-0 victory. Jordan looked good as they took the lead against East Timor, but collapsed into a heap as they lost 4-1. The Philippines, incredibly, drew 3-3 for the third time in a row as they equalised thrice against Myanmar. All these points dropped for their rivals opened things up for Malaysia, but they were held to a goalless draw by Oman.
Malaysia again struggled for goals in Qatar, and this time they couldn’t even get a point as Simao’s tap-in for Qatar was the only goal. This left Philippines as the only unbeaten side, and they came back to beat Jordan 3-1 to preserve this record. Indonesia got back into winning ways with a 2-0 win over East Timor in a tight game, whilst Oman won by the same scoreline against Myanmar.
After a couple of damaging defeats, Jordan were back with a 3-0 win over Oman. The wonderfully-named Spanish CB Super scored in the second minute, putting the Philippines on their way to a 3-2 win over East Timor. Qatar dominated their game with Myanmar, but twice had to come from behind in a 2-2 draw. The real drama, however, was in Kuala Lumpur as Malaysia hosted Indonesia. Jeronimo Barrales bagged a first-half hat-trick as Malaysia led 4-2 at the break. Two more Malaysian goals put them in a dominating position, but Indonesia struck back twice for 6-4. Despite Indonesia’s pressure, they couldn’t complete their comeback and Malaysia won a 10-goal thriller.
This meant that this particularly close group looked like this halfway in:
Malaysia again struggled for goals in Qatar, and this time they couldn’t even get a point as Simao’s tap-in for Qatar was the only goal. This left Philippines as the only unbeaten side, and they came back to beat Jordan 3-1 to preserve this record. Indonesia got back into winning ways with a 2-0 win over East Timor in a tight game, whilst Oman won by the same scoreline against Myanmar.
After a couple of damaging defeats, Jordan were back with a 3-0 win over Oman. The wonderfully-named Spanish CB Super scored in the second minute, putting the Philippines on their way to a 3-2 win over East Timor. Qatar dominated their game with Myanmar, but twice had to come from behind in a 2-2 draw. The real drama, however, was in Kuala Lumpur as Malaysia hosted Indonesia. Jeronimo Barrales bagged a first-half hat-trick as Malaysia led 4-2 at the break. Two more Malaysian goals put them in a dominating position, but Indonesia struck back twice for 6-4. Despite Indonesia’s pressure, they couldn’t complete their comeback and Malaysia won a 10-goal thriller.
This meant that this particularly close group looked like this halfway in:
Peter Odemwingie had, frankly, been garbage thus far for Indonesia, but he popped up with two goals to help them to a much-needed 4-1 win over Myanmar. Malaysia, too, got the easy win they needed by beating East Timor 3-0. Despite the pressure from below and tricky ties, the top two stayed afloat as Qatar beat Jordan 2-1 and Philippines beat Oman 1-0.
The next round of fixtures saw the top two meet, and Xavi’s pinpoint free kick led Qatar to a 2-0 victory to open up some space at the top of the table. This gave Malaysia the chance to jump into the qualification places, but they suffered a surprising 2-0 home defeat to bottom side Myanmar. This gave Indonesia and Jordan extra motivation as they met, with a chance of pushing for a top-two spot. The lead swung between both teams until Odemwingie slid home to secure a 3-2 victory for Indonesia. Meanwhile, East Timor held hosts Oman to a 1-1 draw.
The next round of fixtures saw the top two meet, and Xavi’s pinpoint free kick led Qatar to a 2-0 victory to open up some space at the top of the table. This gave Malaysia the chance to jump into the qualification places, but they suffered a surprising 2-0 home defeat to bottom side Myanmar. This gave Indonesia and Jordan extra motivation as they met, with a chance of pushing for a top-two spot. The lead swung between both teams until Odemwingie slid home to secure a 3-2 victory for Indonesia. Meanwhile, East Timor held hosts Oman to a 1-1 draw.
Qatar continued their excellent form with a 3-0 away win over Oman. And all of a sudden, this once-even group had a runaway leader as all of Qatar’s rivals drew. Odemwingie scored again as Indonesia drew 2-2 away to Philippines, whilst Malaysia could only get a 1-1 draw from their trip to Jordan. Meanwhile in the battle between the bottom two, Myanmar came back to beat East Timor 2-1.
A crucial match was up next as Malaysia hosted Philippines knowing a win would see them overtake their opponents to get into the coveted second place. A lucky deflection left Yashir Pinto with an easy finish to open the scoring for Malaysia, and they wrapped up a 2-0 win when Barrales ran through and finished powerfully with 10 minutes remaining. Indonesia weren’t out of things yet, though, as they finished strongly to beat Oman 4-1. Jordan’s qualification push was effectively ended by drawing 1-1 away to Myanmar, both goals coming in the opening 10 minutes. East Timor, meanwhile, took a surprise 7th-minute lead against Qatar. This only served to stir their opponents into action, however, as the final score was 6-1 to Qatar, who secured their qualification for the next round.
A crucial match was up next as Malaysia hosted Philippines knowing a win would see them overtake their opponents to get into the coveted second place. A lucky deflection left Yashir Pinto with an easy finish to open the scoring for Malaysia, and they wrapped up a 2-0 win when Barrales ran through and finished powerfully with 10 minutes remaining. Indonesia weren’t out of things yet, though, as they finished strongly to beat Oman 4-1. Jordan’s qualification push was effectively ended by drawing 1-1 away to Myanmar, both goals coming in the opening 10 minutes. East Timor, meanwhile, took a surprise 7th-minute lead against Qatar. This only served to stir their opponents into action, however, as the final score was 6-1 to Qatar, who secured their qualification for the next round.
This qualification might have caused complacency amongst the Qatari side, as they slipped to their first defeat in eight games, losing 2-1 to Indonesia. This further increased the pressure on the other sides around the qualification places, and it told as both Malaysia and Philippines drew. Malaysia had to score twice in the final 9 minutes to earn a 2-2 draw with Oman, and it was the same score for Philippines, as they were denied by a late Myanmar goal. Meanwhile, Jordan vented a bit of frustration by beating 10-man East Timor 3-0.
At this stage, Malaysia and Indonesia were tied in 2nd, with Philippines 2 points behind. Indonesia did all they could as Odemwingie’s had a hat-trick within 13 minutes (9 in 6 for him) as they thumped East Timor 5-1. This saw them clear in second as Malaysia were wildly outplayed by Qatar, eventually losing 3-1. It also meant Philippines had to win away to Jordan, and they looked on course at 3-2 up, however disaster struck in the 89th minute when they gave away a penalty for 3-3. It wasn’t over yet, but this wasn’t good news for Philippines as Hassan Abdel Fattah scored from 4 yards out in the 96th minute to win it 4-3 for Jordan. Meanwhile, Myanmar’s mini-run of form continued as scored after 14 seconds and held on for a 1-0 win over Oman.
At this stage, Malaysia and Indonesia were tied in 2nd, with Philippines 2 points behind. Indonesia did all they could as Odemwingie’s had a hat-trick within 13 minutes (9 in 6 for him) as they thumped East Timor 5-1. This saw them clear in second as Malaysia were wildly outplayed by Qatar, eventually losing 3-1. It also meant Philippines had to win away to Jordan, and they looked on course at 3-2 up, however disaster struck in the 89th minute when they gave away a penalty for 3-3. It wasn’t over yet, but this wasn’t good news for Philippines as Hassan Abdel Fattah scored from 4 yards out in the 96th minute to win it 4-3 for Jordan. Meanwhile, Myanmar’s mini-run of form continued as scored after 14 seconds and held on for a 1-0 win over Oman.
In the final round of games, Qatar rounded off an impressive performance in this group by beating Myanmar 2-0, whilst Oman and Jordan battled to a 2-2 draw. Philippines hosted East Timor, and both teams cut loose, the final score being 4-3 to East Timor. However, the was only one match that mattered, and it was Indonesia vs. Malaysia, the visitors needing to win by at least two goals to steal second place. However, Malaysia started miserably and found themselves 5-1 down at the break. Two quick-fire goals after the break raised Malaysian hopes, but they were extinguished when Odemwingie completed his hat-trick. There was a late consolation, but the final score was 6-4 to Indonesia – incredibly, an exact reversal of the score when the sides met the first time.
Final standings
Final standings
Top scorers: Peter Odemwingie (IDN), Jeronimo Barrales (MAS) 12 goals; Quirino (TLS) 11 goals
Highest average ratings: Xavi (QAT), Gonzalo Cabrera (MAS) 7.59; Odemwingie (IDN) 7.58
Next time
That was an epic group, and ultimately the sides with the biggest names went through, which is probably the more interesting outcome in the long term. Next time we travel to Oceania to see the first match in their second round of qualifying.
Highest average ratings: Xavi (QAT), Gonzalo Cabrera (MAS) 7.59; Odemwingie (IDN) 7.58
Next time
That was an epic group, and ultimately the sides with the biggest names went through, which is probably the more interesting outcome in the long term. Next time we travel to Oceania to see the first match in their second round of qualifying.