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Bangladesh draws Vietnam Saudi Arabia thrashes Mongolia in 6-0 World Cup opener
Updated: Thursday February 08, 2001 5:13 PM
RIYADH (Reuters) -- Saudi Arabia started its 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."
Copyright 2003 Reuters Limited. All rights reserved.
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