Qatar upset; Troussier confirms resignation
(Agencies)
Updated: 2004-07-19 09:14

The underdogs bared their teeth at the Asian Cup as three-time champions Saudi Arabia were held by debutants Turkmenistan while Indonesia scored an upset victory over Qatar.

A superbly taken free-kick in the third minute of stoppage time by Begenchmuhammed Kuliyev earned Turkmenistan a well-deserved 2-2 draw with the injury-hit Saudis in a Group C fixture in Chengdu.

Qatar coach Philippe Troussier gestures to his players in the game against Indonesia. Qatar lost and Troussier said he would resign. [newsphoto]

With more luck Turkmenistan might have snatched victory, Gochguly Gochguliyev missing a spot-kick midway through the second-half that would have put his team into a 2-1 lead.

Saudi Arabia, missing seven key players from their squad through injury, had inspirational striker Yasser Al-Qahtani to thank for securing a share of the spoils.

Al-Qahtani scored from the penalty spot after nine minutes to cancel out Nazar Bayramov's shock opener for Turkmenistan, before netting with a looping header on 58 minutes.

In the late Group C match, Uzbekistan downed Iraq 1-0 thanks to another curling free-kick, captain Mirdjalal Kasimov floating a sublime shot into the top corner after 22 minutes.

Iraq, who have picked their Olympic squad to China, dominated for long periods of a physical encounter that saw both sides finish with 10 men after two red cards in the final 10 minutes.

Earlier, Frenchman Philippe Troussier confirmed his decision to step down as Qatar coach at the end of the tournament after seeing his team beaten 2-1 by Indonesia in an upset opening defeat.

Troussier's team was sunk by goals in each half from Indonesia's Budi Sudarsono and Ponaryo Astaman in front of a paltry 1,000 fans in the 66,000-seater Workers Stadium.

The Group A loss was yet another crushing setback for Troussier, who inspired Japan to victory in the 2000 Asian Cup before guiding them into the last 16 of the World Cup two years later.

Troussier -- appointed last July on a lucrative two-year contract -- confirmed he would part company with the Gulf side at the end of the tournament.

"This is not the time or the place to talk about my reasons for leaving, but it was a decision I had taken some time ago," Troussier said.

"It has nothing to do with my work with Qatar. The players have been receptive and have made good progress."

The charismatic guru, who became known as the 'white witchdoctor during a successful spell coaching in Africa, blamed lack of a killer touch in front of goal for his side's defeat.

"We've known for a long time that we have a big problem scoring. We play well and create lots of chances but find it very hard to take those chances," said Troussier.

Sudarsono gave Indonesia the lead after getting on the end of a toe-poked through ball by Bambang Pamungkas to prod home on 26 minutes.

And Qatar suffered another hammer-blow five minutes after the break when Astaman unleashed a thunderous 25-yarder that crashed in off the underside of the bar past keeper Abdulaziz Ali.

Qatar launched a furious late rally that produced an 85th minute goal for Magid Mohamed, but it was too little too late.

Away from the pitch Sunday, organisers dismissed a tirade by Asian Football Confederation (AFC) general secretary Peter Velappan over the behaviour of fans in Beijing during Saturday's opening ceremony.

Velappan was outraged by fans who had whistled and jeered as guests including FIFA president Sepp Blatter addressed the crowd, even questioning whether Beijing was capable of staging a successful Olympics in 2008.

But a spokeswoman for the Asian Cup local organising committee said local fans had not been booing the opening ceremony guests, explaining that a technical glitch was behind the controversy.

On Monday attention will turn to Group B, where 2002 World Cup semi-finalists face Jordan and Kuwait play the United Arab Emirates.

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