Reuters, 11/06 19:10 CET
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(Reuters) – Tiny Guam beat Turkmenistan 1-0 to record their first ever World Cup qualifying victory, while the Philippines surprised Bahrain 2-1 as the second round of Asia’s preliminaries for Russia 2018 began on Thursday.
Hosting their first ever World Cup qualifier, having lost two away fixtures, Guam were gifted the only goal on the artificial turf at the National Training Centre after Serdar Annaorazov turned into his own net in the 14th minute.
Guam host India in their second match in Group D on Tuesday.
The Philippines, cheered on by a home crowd, put up a gritty show to overcome Bahrain in a Group H contest.
Philippines substitute Misagh Bahadoran struck in the 50th minute before Javier Patino increased the advantage 10 minutes later.
Midfielder Abdulwahab Al Malood reduced the deficit three minutes into second-half stoppage time but it was too little too late for Bahrain.
Oman downed India 2-1 in Bangalore after dominating a match they could have won by a greater margin.
Before the 19,000-plus crowd had time to settle into their seats at the Kanteerava Stadium, Qasim Said capitalised on a defensive lapse to drill the ball through goalkeeeper Subrata Paul’s legs in the opening minute.
India equalised 25 minutes later when Sunil Chetri’s spectacular curling left-footer from inside the box hit the inside of the post on its way into the net.
Oman were soon dictating terms again and Amad Al-Hosni put them ahead when he converted a 40th-minute penalty.
In Dhaka, Kyrgyzstan beat Bangladesh 3-1, with all four goals coming in an action-packed first half of the Group B match.
In Group E, Safuwan Baharudin’s double helped Singapore beat Vietnam 4-0 in Phnom Penh.
Hong Kong had it even easier at home to Bhutan, who they thrashed 7-0 in a ridiculously lop-sided Group C contest at the Mongkok Stadium.
Jaimes McKee opened the floodgates in the 19th minute and scored again in the second half while five of his team mates were also on target.
In other matches, Laos were held to a 2-2 draw by Myanmar, Thailand beat Vietnam 1-0 and Malaysia played out a 1-1 draw with East Timor.
Only the eight group winners in the 39-team stage are guaranteed a place in the next round. The second round of Asian World Cup action also doubles as qualification for the 2019 Asian Cup.
(Writing by Patrick Johnston in Singapore and Amlan Chakraborty in New Delhi; editing by Toby Davis)
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