India routed 7-1 by Saudi Arabia in Asian Cup qualifier

Jeddah, Sep 7 (UNI) NS Manju's 22nd minute goal turned out to be a false dawn as hosts and three-time Asian champions Saudi Arabia pounded a hapless India 7-1 in the Group A tie of the AFC Asian Cup Qualifiers at the Prince Abdullah Al Faisal Stadium here.

India scored their first and only goal of the qualifiers in the 22nd minute through Manju who capitalised on an error by Saudi goalkeeper Mohamed Khojah to make it 1-0.

India have failed to win a single match so far, having already lost their games against Japan and Yemen. India host Japan in Bangalore on September 11 and play their final Group A match against Yemen on September 15.

All went downhill for the Indians after Manju's goal and Sahe Bashir restored parity within seven minutes as he beat India's offside trap to score for the Saudis.

The Saudis took the lead after three minutes thanks to Eisa Al Mehiani and went into half-time with a 2-1 lead.

Bashir doubled Saudi Arabia's lead a minute after the break as he sent the ball through Indian goalkeeper Sandip Nandy followed by a solo effort from Mohamed Ameen, who scored in the 57th minute to make it 4-1.

Badr Al Hagbani added to India's woes by scoring just four minutes later with a powerful left-foot strike from the edge of the penalty area.

Substitute Ahmed Al Suwaileh scored Saudi Arabia's sixth through a pass by Hagbani and Al Suwaileh completed the rout with a header in the dying minutes.

Saudis will now go in to the finals -- to be held in Malaysia, Vietnam, Indonesia and Thailand next summer -- with a 100 per cent record in qualifying.

After another disappointing loss, India coach Bob Houghton said his team lost the momentum after making a good start and cited the tough group as one of the reasons for India's poor performance.

''We went head-to-head with the Saudis for the first half hour but after they scored the second goal they totally dominated the match,'' he said after the match.

''This was a very tough group for us because we had to face two of the strongest teams in Asia. After watching the Saudi Arabia versus Japan match I told some of my friends that if they had played the same during the World Cup then they might have achieved something,'' he added.

Meanwhile, Saudi coach Marcos Paqueta felt Manju's goal provided a timely wake up call to his team and helped them regroup to win the match.

''It was a positive thing for my team when the Indian team scored first because afterwards my players came to appreciate the importance of the game,'' he said.

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