Daily Times

SUWON, South Korea: South Korean sharpshooter Son Heung-Min kept Qatar’s World Cup ambitions on hold and Japan also survived a scare as China suffered a potentially calamitous defeat to Syria on Thursday.

Tottenham Hotspur’s Son extended his electric club form with the winner in South Korea’s 3-2 triumph over 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar, whose hopes of reaching Russia 2018 now look distant. In Saitama, Japan needed a 95th-minute strike from substitute Hotaru Yamaguchi to down Iraq 2-1 and stay on track in Asia’s final qualifying round.

But China were stunned 1-0 at home by war-ravaged Syria as they slipped to fifth in Group A, with only the top two teams reaching Russia and the third-placed side going into a play-off series. Qatar fought bravely in Suwon and they took a shock 2-1 lead into the break thanks to Hassan Al-Haydos’s penalty and Sebastian Soria’s goal at the end of the first half.

But Uli Stielike’s men, seeking their 10th World Cup appearance, levelled through Ji Dong-Won before Son, who has scored five for Spurs already this season, curled the winner on 58 minutes. South Korea face the daunting prospect of playing Iran away next week, but Stielike said they would now travel to Tehran full of confidence.

“This is the first time in two years that we’ve come back to win,” said the German. “This is the victory that is very important for us because it gave us confidence before going to Iran.”