Japan draw with Jordan

DOHA: Three-time Asian champions Japan avoided a defeat to Jordan when defender Maya Yoshida scored in stoppage time to force a 1-1 draw in their opening Group B match at the Asian Cup.

Jordan, in only their second appearance in the continent’s major championship, looked set for a huge upset after taking the lead through Hasan Abdel-Fattah just before half-time.

Abdel-Fattah’s shot from the edge of the box took a deflection off Yoshida, who also had a goal disallowed for an infringement after 25 minutes.

Jordan defended superbly throughout the second half, keeping one of the tournament favourites at bay until seconds from the final whistle, when Yoshida headed in unmarked at the far post.

Protest

The Kuwait Football Association (KFA) made an official complaint about Australian referee Benjamin Williams, after a 2-0 defeat by China. Williams showed Kuwait Mesad Nada a straight red card in the first half, after he kicked Yang Xu.  He also rejected a strong Kuwaiti penalty appeal in the first half and refused to award a goal when China goal-keeper Yang Zhi fumbled the ball on his line.

“The mistakes were made in a biased way,” said KFA President Sheikh Tala Fahad Al Sabah. “If the Asian Football Confederation has forgotten, I will slightly refresh their memory.”

“He made disastrous mistakes between China and Malaysia in the recent Asian Games [when three Malaysian players were sent off]. Also, he committed obvious mistakes in the match between Al Sadd [Qatar] and Najaf [Iraq] four years ago.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 10^th, 2011.