Kuwait beat Kyrgyzstan 2-0 Saturday and Bahrain beat Singapore by the same
score, putting the Kuwaitis in good position to advance to the second round of
Asian qualifying for the 2002 World Cup.
Kuwait (4-0-1) leads Group Four with 13 points, one ahead of Bahrain (4-1),
and would advance with a win or a tie against Bahrain on Tuesday. Kyrgyzstan
(1-4) and Singapore (0-4-1) have been eliminated.
At Kuwait, the home team got goals from Jassem Houidi in the 21st minute and
Fraj Lahib in the 88th. In the other game, Khamis Eid (39th minute) and Ameur
(42nd minute) scored for Bahrain.
The top team in each of the 10 first-round groups advances to the Asian
finals, which will produce two qualifiers for the 2002 tournament in Japan and
South Korea.
In the second round of Africa qualifying, Nambia tied Egpyt 1-1 and Morocco
tied Senegal 0-0 in Group C, and Zimbabwe won 2-1 at Burkina Faso in Group E.
At Windhoek, Razundura Tjikuzu put the home team ahead in the 50th minute
but Ibrahim Said tied it for Egypt with one minute remaining.
With the scoreless tie at Rabat, Morocco (1-0-3) leads Group C with six
points, followed by Algeria (1-1-1) with four, Egypt and Senegal (both 0-0-3)
with three apiece and Namibia (0-1-2) with two. Only the five African group
winners qualify.
At Ouagadougou, visiting Zimbabwe took a 2-0 lead on goals by Peter Nglobi
in the second and 13th minutes. Moumouni Dagano scored for Burkina Faso in the
22nd.
Guinea (2-0-1) leads Group E with seven points, one ahead of South Africa
(2-0), which plays Sunday at Malawi (0-0-2). Zimbabwe (1-2) has three points
and Burkina Faso (0-3-1) is last with one.
The rest of Sunday's schedule has Zambia at Cameroon, Sierra Leone at
Liberia, Ghana at Sudan and Republic of Congo at Tunisia.
AP NEWS
The Associated Press News Service
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