RIYADH -- Saudi Arabia started their
campaign for a third successive appearance at the World Cup
finals with a 6-0 rout of Mongolia on Thursday.
Mohammad Shalhoub and Hussain Abdulghani scored two goals
apiece as the three times Asian Cup winners cruised past the
defensively-minded Mongolians in the Asian zone, group 10,
qualifying tournament.
Shalhoub was on target after 10 minutes and 12 minutes later
Obaid al-Dosari doubled Saudi's lead.
Shalhoub added his second and the hosts were four up by the
30th minute when Abdulghani claimed his first.
Abdulghani hit his second in the 44th minute to give the
Saudis a 5-0 halftime advantage and Marzouq al-Otaibi, Saudi
Arabia's most expensive player, claimed the sixth in the 55th
minute.
Mongolia coach Canjour Bayarposgt said: "It's minus 30
degrees (Celsius) in our country at the moment and we didn't
have much chance to train or prepare for this tournament.
"I expected to lose by four goals but we lost by six."
Bangladesh earned a useful point after a 0-0 draw with
Vietnam in the day's other group game.
Vietnam, under new Brazilian coach Edson Silva Dido, failed
to find target without key striker Le Huynh Duc, who recently
announced his retirement from international football.
"I found that the team did some things that need to be
punished," said Dido, who took over from Austrian Alfred Riedl
at the start of the year.
"Even one goal would have been enough because we dominated
the game."
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