Saudi Arabia blanked Hong Kong 3-0 in the first leg match of the Asian World Cup 2014 qualifiers at Prince Mohammed Bin Fahd Stadium in Dammam Saturday. Striker Nasser Al-Shamrani put the Saudi side in the lead a minute before the break before his teammate defender, Osama Al-Muallad, increased the lead seconds before half-time. Al-Shamrani sealed the Saudi win three minutes after the break. The Greens showed a well organized performance and succeeded to control the match. The effective midfielder, Mohammed Noor, was at his best and his efforts helped the Saudi team win as he made two perfect passes that resulted in two goals. Both passes came from foul kicks that Noor knew where to send the ball. On the other hand, the visitors depended on counterattacks, but failed to reach the Saudi goal where Hasan Al-Otaibi was alert enough to void the few attempts. The unmarked Shamrani received a long pass into the box where the visitors thought Shamrani was in an offside position. However, the opponent's goalkeeper rushed to save the situation. Before he could, Shamrani played the ball over the late keeper and into the goal. Meanwhile, China smashed six second-half goals past Laos on Saturday for a 7-2 win to put one foot in the third round. Jordan also enjoyed a bumper goalfest as it beat Nepal 9-0 with Hasan Abdel Mahmoud grabbing four of the goals. It was a good day for Gulf sides with wins for Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Oman. Qatar, the hosts of the 2022 World Cup, got off to a flying start against Vietnam with Mohamed Kasoula putting them ahead in the sixth minute. Second half goals from Meshal Mubarak and Yousef Ahmad Ali secured a 3-0 victory. UAE and Kuwait also managed 3-0 wins as they beat India, which has yet to play in a World Cup finals, and Philippines respectively. Oman, meanwhile, beat Myanmar 2-0. The 2007 Asian champion Iraq continued on its way with a 2-0 win over Yemen while Iran was in impressive form as it dispatched Maldives 4-0. In the south-east Asian grudge match, host Singapore edged Malaysia 5-3 in an eight-goal thriller 5-3 at the Jalan Besar Stadium. Results: Saudi Arabia 3 Hong Kong 0; China 7 Laos 2; Thailand 1 Palestine 0; Singapore 5 Malaysia 3; Turkmenistan 1 Indonesia 1; Lebanon 4 Bangladesh 0; Uzbekistan 4 Kyrgyzstan 0; Iran 4 Maldives 0; Oman 2 Myanmar 0; Iraq 2 Yemen 0; Jordan 9 Nepal 0; Syria 2 Tajikistan 1; United Arab Emirates 3 India 0; Qatar 3 Vietnam 0; Kuwait 3 Philippines 0. __
