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Saitama (Japan) (AFP) – Vietnam forced its host Japan to settle for a 1-1 draw on Tuesday in Saitama in the final tenth round of the decisive third round of the Asian qualifiers for the World Cup Qatar 2022, which will give Saudi Arabia the opportunity to take the top of Group B if it later wins over its guest, Australia.
Japan entered the match, originally guarantor of its qualification to the world finals with Saudi Arabia, after winning the last round in Australia 2-0, achieving its sixth victory in a row.
The “Blue Samurai” found itself behind since the 19th minute with the goal of Nguyen Thanh between him (19), then waited for the second half to avoid ending the group’s competition with a third defeat by equalizing through Maya Yoshida (54).
And the Japanese team, which is participating in the World Cup for the seventh time in a row without interruption since 1998, hopes that the Australian team will keep it in the lead by drawing or defeating Saudi Arabia later in Jeddah.
© 2022 AFP