Yeah I saw that too, but it hasn't changed on any other sites yet, I swear I'm starting to get really pissed off with this crap. I ask again, how hard is it to get a scoreline correct? I don't understand this. bbc does it, now fifa does it, it's unreal. Anyways, does anyone know of an article on the match? It's pretty sad that almost 3 days after the match is played that we STILL are not sure of the scoreline. Once again, nobody cares about these matches it seems like.
Bangladesh 0 (0) Tajikistan 2 (1) - Khamidov Sukhrob 11, Hakimov Numordzhon 50. Match report: http://www.thedailystar.net/2003/11/29/d31129040131.htm (Bangladeshi newpapers have been offline due to the Eid holiday which ran Wed-Thurs-Fri but are back now) J
Despite the talk of Mongolia or the Maldives pulling out... the matches will still take place. "Maldives will play against Mongolia in freezing temperatures on Saturday. Temperature in Mongolia is presently recorded at minus 25 degrees Celcius, and this is the coldest environment so far for players from tropical Maldives. Though Maldives’ squad contains 23 players, Football Association of Maldives decided to retain some players in Maldives citing health reasons." http://www.haveeru.com.mv/english/news_show.phtml?id=2524&search=&find=
[R]Mongolia vs Maldives In Ulaan-Baatar Mongolia 0 (0) Maldives 1 (1) - Mohammed Nizam 24' M.Nizam aka Bodu Thoddoo (if I read the following link correctly) http://www.haveeru.com.mv/english/ J
PAKISTAN - KYRGYZSTAN 0-2 LIVE Pakistan-Kyrgyzstan 11/29/2003 12:06:10 PM The match ended 2-0 for Kyrgyzstan Pakistan played very bad we just have 2 attempts to score a goal. So now we see that Haroon and Sarfraz are needed. Now I know why Haroon was dropped: Bcz how u all know our national coach U.F Tariq Lufti announced the captain and this was not good bcz president PFF announce the captain and team so PFF decided to dropp the best defender. Addel Ahmed wear the shirt no. 10 and Arif Mashi no. 2 DETAILED MATCH REPORT TODAY EVENING! MALIK RIAZ HAI NAVEED
I hope the Lao team playing in the South East Asian games isn't their first team - otherwise their schedule for the week is 29/11 - in Vientiane vs Sri Lanka 30/11 - in Hanoi vs Indonesia 3/12 - in Colombo vs Sri Lanka 4/12 - in Hanoi vs Thailand 6/12 - on Uranus playing the Martians 7/12 - in Hanoi vs Vietnam Busy boys if they're playing both comps. J
More reaction from the Mongolia-Maldives match... "MALE, Nov 30 (HNS) -- President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom has congratulated Maldives’ national soccer team on their victory over Mongolia on Saturday in the first leg of the World Cup 2006 prequalifiers. Tropical Maldives won 1-0 against Mongolia in the match played under heavy snowfall in the frozen Mongolian capital Ulan Bator." http://www.haveeru.com.mv/english/news_show.phtml?id=2532&search=&find= I want to see a picture from the game.
Result of Lao match Laos lost their match on the weekend 1-0. However, this was in the South East Asian Games tournament against Indonesia - not the WCQ match against Sri Lanka. One would suggest that the situation at the moment is "farcical". As the Tajik coach noted, FIFA (or the AFC) contacted the relevant Federations a month ago to tell them about the need to play qualifiers on or about 29 November-3 December. Never mind that some of the countries (Turkmenistan) already had Asian Cup qualifiers scheduled for those date, or that they conflicted with the South East Asian games (which were scheduled years ago). J
Tajikistan v Bangladesh From Dushanbe (or possibly Kujand) Tajikistan 2 (1) Bangladesh 0 (0) TJK win 4:0 on aggregate Bangladesh currently the best "loser" http://www.thedailystar.net/2003/12/01/d31201040640.htm J
Sri Lanka v Laos may not start until 3 Dec http://www.haveeru.com.mv/english/news_show.phtml?id=2481 Seems to suggest the first leg of the tie is in Colombo (Sri Lanka) on the 3rd - would explain why we haven't seen any results. But would still conflict with SEA games in Hanoi (until at least the 4th). You would think that this needs to be done by the 5th (although could be played early enough in the day to beat the start of the draw in Frankfurt). Could be played as 1 match - although that would screw up the "best loser" thing even more than it is [and you thought it wasn't possible] or both legs could be played in Sri Lanka close together. This AFC pre-qual is turning into ones of FIFAs biggest farces in history. Well, one of ... well, it's pretty bad anyway. J
Unconfirmed Laos v Sri Lanka http://www.rdasilva.demon.co.uk/latest.html Laos 0 - 0 Sri Lanka This results puts both teams in the box seat - if the "lucky loser" is (IIRC) based on points first then unless there is a draw elsewhere (Maldives?) the loser of the return match will advance anyway, even if they lose 100-0. J
Re: Tajikistan v Bangladesh Bangladesh can't be the best loser, because the first leg of Laos-Sri Lanka finished in a draw, so the loser of this match is always better then Bangladesh.
I would expect that this is aggregate only. Although if somebody could show me proof. It wouldn't surprise me though if both teams played to a 0-0 draw or a 1-0 game so that both teams advance. I don't expect the Maldives to show the same graciousness to the Mongolians considering the conflict over playing the game in Mongolia to begin with.
Forza, I don't think JLSA knew about the Laos-Sri Lanka scoreline before he posted that about the "best loser." But you are right, if this scoreline is confirmed then Bangladesh would be eliminated. What really pisses me off is the disregard to the Fair Play rule. It seems like to me that certain teams are given a slight advantage of playing last because then they could formulate drawing each other so that they both advance. We saw this at the 1982 World Cup Finals and I had thought FIFA had learned their lesson. Plus, I don't understand why teams can't play a match on a particular date, and why if they can't FIFA not helping them with it. Another example about how they just don't care about these teams.
*Slight* advantage. Sri Lanka and Laos just have to 1) Turn up in Colombo 2) Stand around for 90-120 minutes 3) Ensure the score is 0-0 before penalties and the result is irrelevant - both advance. This is effectively against the spirit of the game - but FIFA's uselessness ensures it is the best result for both teams - why try when doing nothing is the best option. J PS - correct, I didn't know about the 0:0 when I wrote about Bangladesh. And given FIFA's efforts with the original 2:0 result of the Bangladesh game - I still call the 0:0 result "unconfirmed".