China smashed six second-half goals past Laos on Saturday for a 7-2 win to put one foot in the third round of Asian qualifying for the 2014 World Cup in Brazil.
Lowly Laos gave the home team some nervy moments at Kunming's Tuodong Stadium when strikes from Soukaphone Vongchiengkham and Visay Phaphouvanin put the visitors two-up after 31 minutes.
But substitute Yang Xu hit back in first half injury time, and it set off an avalanche of goals in the second period as he added two more, with Chen Tao scoring a double off the bench and two late strikes from midfielder Hao Junmin.
China will now be confident of progressing after Thursday's second leg to the penultimate stage of Asian qualifying, when big guns Japan, Australia and South Korea enter the competition, along with Bahrain and North Korea.
Jordan also enjoyed a bumper goalfest as they 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, Saudi Arabia, 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.
Saudi Arabia beat Hong Kong by the same scoreline with Nassir Al Shamrani grabbing a brace while UAE and Kuwait also managed 3-0 wins as they beat India, who have yet to play in a World Cup finals, and Philippines respectively.
Oman, meanwhile, beat Myanmar 2-0.
The 2007 Asian champions Iraq continued on their way with a 2-0 win over Yemen while Iran were in impressive form as they dispatched Maldives 4-0 -- the former Bayern Munich and Schalke midfielder Ali Karimi among the scorers.
In the south-east Asian grudge match, hosts Singapore edged Malaysia 5-3 in an eight-goal thriller 5-3 at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
The visitors made the best possible start as Mohd Safee Bin Mohd Salee put them ahead in the opening minute.
Singapore hit back, though, bagging four before half-time through Aleksander Duric (8), Qiu Li (22), Mustafic Fahrudin (44) and Shi Jiayi (45).
Malaysia were not finished though and two goals in two minutes from Abdul Hadi Hin Yahaya and Sali brought it back to 4-3. However a second from Duric nine minutes from time gave Singapore the win.
The second legs will be played on July 28, ahead of a draw for the third-round group stage which takes place in Brazil on July 30.
Source: AFP
