A quick summary of action around the AFC first group phase on WED 29 FEB 2012.
» Australia 04-02 Saudi Arabia: The Saudis had a 2-1 lead after 72 minutes. But by 76 minutes, they trailed by two goals. Harry KEWELL, Alex BROSQUE, and Brett EMERTON all scored within the space of four minutes, and the win that would have put Saudi Arabia into the next round was suddenly out of reach...
» Oman 02-00 Thailand: ...leaving Oman to claim second place in Group D. Hussain AL HADHRI scored nine minutes in, and Abdul Aziz AL MAQBALI added a second just before the final whistle.
» United Arab Emirates 04-02 Lebanon: Though playing for nothing but pride, an inspired UAE squad pulled away in the second half after a 2-2 score at the interval...
» Korea Rep 02-00 Kuwait: ...but the result proved insignificant for Lebanon as Kuwait could not capitalise. LEE Dong Gook and LEE Kuen Ho each scored for Korea Rep midway through the second half, taking them through as the top team in Group B.
» Bahrain 10-00 Indonesia: Going into the day’s matches, Bahrain trailed Qatar by three points and a nine goal margin. Proof that it was not Indonesia’s day came in the second minute when goalkeeper SAMSIDAR was sent off. Ismail ABDULATIFF’s resulting penalty kicked off the rout...
» Iran 02-02 Qatar: ...but the ten goals were still not enough to earn advancement from Group E. Qatar were down 2-1 late, a result that would have seen them out of the competition. But in the 86th minute, Mohammed KASOLA was able to find the equaliser and put Qatar through.
× Eliminated: Bahrain, China PR, Indonesia, Korea DPR, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Thailand, Turkmenistan, UAE
» Advance to second group phase: Australia, Iran, Iraq, Japan, Jordan, Korea Rep, Lebanon, Oman, Qatar, Uzbekistan