SYRIA STAY BOTTOM AFTER LEBANON DEFEAT

Syria are rooted to the bottom of the Group A standings for the third round of the Asian World Cup qualifiers ahead of the tournament next year after their latest defeat. The Syrians ended on the wrong side of a five-goal thriller at home to Lebanon.


Lebanon boosted their hopes of qualifying automatically for the World Cup tournament on Qatari soil with a 3-2 win over hosts Syria. Omar Kharbi scored the opener for the hosts before MohamedKdouhstruck twice in added time of first half.The brace for Kdouh gave Lebanon a 2-1 lead at the half-time break.

Lebanon extended their lead eight minutes after restart through SoonySaad. Omar Al-Somah pulled one back for the Syrians on 64 minutes but they could not find the third goal to earn a point from the game.

With the defeat to Lebanon at home, Syria has just one point from the first four games and are running out of time to be a part of next year’s FIFA World Cup tournament on Asian soil.

The third round of the qualifiers has been contrasting in form for the Syrians in comparison to their second round campaign. In the second round, Syria faced Philippines Soccer in Group A and they emerged as the top team in the group at the end of proceedings. Apart from facing Philippines Soccer, Syria also battled with China PR, Maldives and Guam.

Philippines Soccer dropped out of World Cup contention at the round stage after finishing in the bottom three alongside Maldives and Guam. Syria and China PR were the two teams who made it from the second round of Asian qualifiers to the third round of Asian qualifiers.

Syria have lost to South Korea (away) and Iran (away) in Group A of the third round stage in addition to the home loss to the Lebanese. Their only point came from the home draw with the United Arab Emirates (UAE).