| China and Australia Play to Draw in World Cup Qualifying |
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Thursday, 27 March 2008
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 China and Australia played to a scoreless draw while North and South Korea also played to a goalless draw in the Soccer Betting Asian World Cup qualifying on Wednesday. China had a big chance to win but Shao Jiayi’s penalty shot was stopped in the last minutes by Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer. "I must apologize to the team and the fans for that penalty kick," Shao said, "Because of me we did not win the game. We should have won the game but we didn't because I missed the penalty kick. I really feel bad about this." Australia was without injured players Tim Cahill and Scott McDonald in the game versus China. They also had little time to adjust to the altitude in Kunming. "The boys played very hard to get this result.” Australia coach Pim Verbeek said, “Of course we came here to win because everyone likes to win games. But I have to admit, I can live with this result," Australia is still at the top of Group 1 (Group of Death) while China is fighting to stay ahead of Iraq and Qatar. Soccer Betting at SBG Global. South Korea and North Korea are tied in Group 3 while Jordan is in third followed by Turkmenistan. Other results on Wednesday had Oman defeating Thailand 1-0, Singapore beating Lebanon 2-0, Uzbekistan routing Saudi Arabia 3-0, while Syria drew 1-1 with the United Arab Emirates. South Korea was disappointed in their draw against North Korea, especially with top players like Manchester United’s Park Ji Sung in the lineup. "We should have won this match," said Park, "We couldn't finish around the net." The match had to be moved to China by FIFA officials after North Korea refused to let South Korea fly their flag or player their anthem in Kim Il-Sung Stadium. Group 2 has Bahrain with the lead followed by Japan and Oman. Thailand trails this group. Group 4 has Uzbekistan at the top followed by Singapore and Saudi Arabia with Lebanon in last place. Group 5 has United Arab Emirates in first, Syria in second, Iran in third and Kuwait in last place. The top two teams from each of the five groups will reach the fourth and final Asian qualifying round for the 2010 World Cup.
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| Last Updated ( Thursday, 27 March 2008 ) | |||||||