FT Tajikistan 3-4 Philippines Good away result for the Philippines. Coupled with Yemen's surprising 0-0 standoff against Nepal in Kathmandu earlier on Tuesday, the Philippines are in command of Group F with 6 points, 2 clear of the Yemenis. Nepal is on one point and Tajikistan, who lost to Yemen in the first matchday, are without a point.
Good? I'd say great, it's a win that sends you to UAE. India unexpectedly with two wins, Cambodia surprised me to day with win over Afghans. Myanmar found themselves in great position before two matches against Kyrgyzstan.
Still a long way to go. Nothing is guaranteed with this team. I agree though. An away win in this group is a very good result indeed.
Lebanon's win and North Korea's away draw makes Lebanon favourite to win the group right now. Hopefully Hong Kong can score home and away wins in Malaysia, then get results away to North Korea and at home to Lebanon. It will be very difficult but not impossible.
AFC Asian Cup 2019 Qualifiers: Stellar quarter stay perfect / Jun 17 2017 / Kuala Lumpur: India, Lebanon, Palestine and the Philippines all maintained perfect records after the conclusion of an enthralling Matchday Two of the third round of 2019 AFC Asian Cup qualifiers. Group A Sunil Chhetri was India’s match-winner once more as he netted the only goal in sublime fashion after the Blue Tigers defeated Kyrgyzstan 1-0 in Bangalore. Myanmar, who suffered a defeat at home to the Indians in Matchday Day One – that man Chhetri with a goal in injury time – bounced back from their opening 1-0 loss to comprehensively beat Macau 4-0 in the Chinese autonomous territory. India remain top with six points, with Myanmar and Kyrgyzstan three behind and Macau yet to pick a point. CHHETRI DELIGHTED WITH INDIA'S IMPRESSIVE DISPLAY Group B With 11 minutes to go in Johor Bahru, Malaysia looked set to open their qualifying third round campaign with a 1-0 win courtesy of Mahali Jasuli’s goal before half-time. That is until Lebanon’s Rabih Ataya struck. His brace, with the second coming deep in injury time, saw the West Asians retain top spot in Group B with the chasing back five points or more behind. DPR Korea have only played one game, though, but they may have been disappointed by the 1-1 draw in Hong Kong where they were dominant for long spells. However, despite Kim Yu-song’s equalizer cancelling out Tan Chun-lok’s opener the Koreans could not make further headway. HOPE FOR MALAYSIA DESPITE DEFEAT TO LEBANON, SAYS VINGADA Group C By contrast, Group C remains tightly poised with Matchday One’s bottom side Cambodia now leaping to second spot after a win over Afghanistan in front of 40,000 in Phnom Penh. Leaders Jordan are just a point ahead of the Kingdom after being held to a goalless draw with Vietnam in Ho Chi Minh City. The Vietnamese are a point behind neighbours Cambodia in third place but will play their fellow Southeast Asians in Matchday Three, while Jordan will host bottom side Afghanistan. VITORINO: SENSE OF BELIEF BEHIND CAMBODIA WIN Group D After thrashing Bhutan 14-0 in Matchday One, Oman found Palestine a much tougher proposition going down 2-1 to the West Asians in Al Ram. The Maldives also go the better of Bhutan in Thimpu, winning 2-0, to join Oman on three points thanks to goals from Ali Fasir and Ahmed Abdulla. Palestine are sitting pretty on six points from their two games, while Bhutan have work to do without a goal nor a point so far. Top face bottom on Matchday Three meanwhile Oman will entertain the Maldives. SPITTLER SEES A BRIGHT FUTURE FOR BHUTAN DESPITE DEFEAT Group E With Home United flying high in the AFC Cup and an encouraging draw away at Bahrain on Matchday One, a 2-1 defeat at home to Chinese Taipei was a hugely disappointing result for Singapore. Hariss Harun opened the scoring early only to see Xavier Chen and Chen Chao-an secure a superb result for the visitors. Bahrain’s 2-1 win away at Turkmenistan now sees Singapore already two points off third after two games. Bahrain, though, now top the group; a point ahead of Turkmenistan and Chinese Taipei. The East Asians travel to Riffa on Matchday Three while Singapore will look to bounce back when they host the Turkmen. KURODA: EXPERIENCE OF SENIOR PLAYERS LIFTED CHINESE TAIPEI Group F Over 15,000 fans in Dushanbe bore witness to one of Matchday Two’s most enthralling ties as the Philippines eventually defeated Tajikistan 4-3 on a rollercoaster night at Pamir Stadium. Three goals up at one point, the Southeast Asians saw their lead pegged back to a 3-2 scoreline before Daisuke Sato scored the winner, although there was still time for Manuchehr Dzhalilov to ensure a nail-biting finale. A goalless stalemate in Katmandu had less drama but it now puts Yemen clear in second, three points ahead of opponents Nepal, and three behind leaders the Philippines. Tajikistan, despite their heroics this week, remain without a point. FUZAYLOV REMAINS CALM DESPITE TAJIKISTAN SITTING BOTTOM OF GROUP F http://www.the-afc.com/asian-cup-2019/afc-asian-cup-2019-qualifiers-stellar-quarter-stay-perfect
Palestine's next two matches are against Bhutan. With six points already in the bag- looks like Palestine will be the first to qualify for UAE 2019 from this set of 24 teams.
I think Palestine will go top of the group. I know it was only against Maldives, but that performance away from home had all the hallmarks of a well-organized side. They were solid defensively and ruthless with the chances they got. Sometimes teams are too caught up with playing pretty football and forget these important traits when playing in unfamiliar environments. I mentioned before that Oman are not great away from home, and their coach Pim Verbeek appears to have noticed this. He has been heard making excuses this week, ranging from having to play on an artificial turf in Palestine, a bobbly pitch in Maldives, and at high altitude in cold weather at Bhutan. Not the words of a confident man.
Thanks! To be honest, the 2015 AFC Asian Cup was really anticlimactic. Our FA really screwed things up- first by destroying the team spirit by handing out $20K and $15K bonuses to Ramzi Saleh and Ashraf Nu'man and 5K bonuses to everyone else with on 3K for staff members. Then came the harassment of Jamal Mahmoud that caused him to resign (recently got paid his back wages plus compensation after taking the PFA to court). I am not saying we would have won any of our games at the Asian Cup but we could have played a lot better if we didn't have an FA administrator masquerading as a coach. It was embarrassing not what the fans or players deserved but a swift kick in the pants for everyone involved in the FA. Unfortunately, we don't know when and where the evil forces that be might rear their heads. Fingers crossed for 2019... A rise in the FIFA ranking should set us up nicely for the next AC finals and WC qualifying cycle. The pitch at the Faisal Al-Husseini should have been replaced. The new pitch is there ready to be laid down we just ran out of time. Oman is a good team but the first 30 minutes of our game against them they were caught out. Palestine came out swinging and the 2-0 lead was deserved. Oman came back in the second half, this may not be vintage 2012/13 Oman but I would be shocked if they weren't in position to win the group with a win on the final match day.
Kyrgyzstan - Myanmar game postponed . I imagine the other leg in Myanmar will be postponed too. http://www.besoccer.com/new/kyrgyzstan-s-clash-with-myanmar-cancelled-due-to-terror-threat
DPR Korea: - no internet access for the players - no live stream links for the Lebanese fans - DPR refused to give the rights of the game for a lebanese channell Thank you AFC. the Lebanese ppl won't watch today's game because of your silly rules
Lebabnon actually drew 2-2, scoring a 90+3 equalizer. It is disgusting AFC allows them to do this oppression.
http://www.thestar.com.my/sport/football/2017/09/29/vingada-shifts-focus-to-hk-after-travel-ban/ North Korea vs Malaysia postponed yet again due to travel ban by the Foreign Ministry of Malaysia. The way this is going this match will never happen.
FT: Chinese Taipei 2:1 Bahrain That is an amazing result for Chinese Taipei after they previously suffered a 0:5 loss away to the same opponents.
PALESTINE has qualified for the 2019 AFC Asian Cup Finals. 10-0 win over Bhutan. 4/4 wins in qualifying 17 goals scored 1 conceded 6 straight wins. 10 matches unbeaten. 1 loss in two years. I think we proved that we were the best side not to make it to the Final Round of World Cup qualifying. On current form we are better than Thailand and Qatar. Bring on Asia. This time we're ready for it!
Congrats Palestine Always had a soft spot for your team. Hopefully a better showing at the next Asian Cup
It will be Palestine's first appearance at the Asia Cup. West Asian Football Federation now has all members with appearances at the Asia Cup apart from Yemen (although South Yemen had participated in the past, but North Yemen and now unified Yemen never appeared at Asia Cup).