The AFC Asian Cup was full of surprises this weekend as minnows came out on top in their openeing fixtures.
Host UAE escaped with a draw against Bahrain after going down 1-0 late in the second half. Mohamed Al Romaihi headed home Bahrain’s first goal in the 78th minute against the struggling hosts. UAE equalised 10 minutes later after a generous penalty was awarded to them for a hand ball. The host who were expected to have a good start had a disappointing outing much to the surprise of everyone.
via AFC Media
The biggest Surprise though came from Group B were defending champions Australia lost 1-0 to a well drilled Jordanian side. Jordan opened the scoring in the 26th minute when an unmarked Anas Bani Yaseen headed in a corner. Jordan sat back for most of the game letting Australia have possession and then try to exploit them on the counter attack, this strategy worked very well for Jordan and they were unlucky not to score more goals. Australia now are last in their group with games against Palestine and Syria to come.
India trashed Thailand 4-1 in their opening game of the Asian Cup. The Blue Tigers had an amazing second half as Thailand as a very predictable Thailand team were tactically outclassed by Constantine’s men. You can check our detailed match analysis.
A 10 men Palestine team put on an amazing defensive display as they held Syria to a 0-0 draw. Palestine were reduced to 10 men in the 68 minute after center back Mohammed Saleh was given the marching orders for a second yellow card.
