Saudis win 'difficult' match in Vietnam

HANOI • Saudi Arabia yesterday moved a step closer to World Cup qualification as Herve Renard's side defeated Vietnam 1-0 away to stay unbeaten in the final phase of Asia's preliminaries for the 2022 World Cup in Qatar.

Saleh Al-Shehri's 31st-minute strike separated the teams and the Saudis sit top of Group B with 16 points from six games, while the Vietnamese remained rooted to the bottom on zero points.

Renard's team have failed to win only once, when they were held 0-0 by Australia last week, since the start of the final phase of the qualifying tournament.

The win provisionally moved Saudi Arabia six points clear of second-placed Australia, who took on China yesterday. That result was not known by press time.

"The match in Vietnam was difficult for me. The thing that I find the most difficult is controlling the ball," said Renard. "This group is a difficult one for us. Our goal is to go to My Dinh Stadium and get three points. We've done it.

"I know that in the future, Saudi Arabia will still have to face many difficult matches. So congratulations to Saudi Arabia and to the player who scored today."

The top two finishers in the group advance automatically to the Finals, while the third-placed side go into a series of play-offs for a possible fifth Asian berth.

The Saudis were rarely troubled in the first hour by the hosts, who have looked out of their depth on their first appearance at this phase of the preliminaries.

Fahad Al-Muwallad unlocked the Vietnam defence as early as the fourth minute, sending in a cross that Al-Shehri was unable to steer home from close range.

His continued persistence paid off in the 31st minute, however, as the visitors went ahead.

In Group A, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) pulled themselves back into contention for a place in the play-offs as Ali Mabkhout's 85th-minute penalty earned Bert van Marwijk's side their first win of the campaign with a 1-0 victory in Lebanon.

The UAE were awarded the spot kick when Abbas Assi raised his foot as Sebastian Tagliabue went to head Khalil Ibrahim's cross from the right.

Mabkhout rolled the resulting penalty into the corner after sending Mostafa Matar the wrong way.

Victory temporarily moved the UAE into third place in the standings with six points from six games, one ahead of Lebanon.

Iraq (four points) took on second-placed South Korea (11), while bottom side Syria (two) hosted group leaders Iran (13) in yesterday's later matches.

REUTERS