October 22, 2007	Monday	Shawwal 9, 1428

BANGKOK, Oct 21: China got their World Cup qualifying campaign off to a flying start with a 7-0 rout of Myanmar in their first-round first-leg match in Foshan on Sunday.Keen to make amends for a disappointing Asian Cup, the Chinese moved an inch closer to reaching their second World Cup finals with striker Qu Bo scoring the first and last goals of the game to condemn Myanmar to a near-certain early exit.Despite missing their European-based players, China dominated the match and went ahead on 17 minutes when Qu converted Sun Xiang’s cross from the left.Du Zhenyu increased the lead eight minutes later and Yang Lin made it three when he slotted home on 55 minutes.

Substitutes Liu Jian and Li Jinyu, and captain Li Weifeng added three more, before Qu finished off Myanmar with a low drive with 11 minutes to go.Uruguayan-born Sebastian Quintana spared Qatar’s blushes with a 68th-minute goal to beat Sri Lanka 1-0 in Colombo and Hong Kong secured a less-than-impressive 3-2 win over East Timor, who have never won an international match.

Without a stadium fit enough to stage an international game, East Timor – one of the world’s poorest countries and lowest-ranked team at 200th in the FIFA charts -- opted to play their home leg in Bali and came close to a shock victory after scoring two rare goals.In Ulan Bator, Jong Chol-min netted two first-half goals to help North Korea beat Mongolia 4-1. Pak Chol-min put the Koreans ahead on 14 minutes before Jong added his two goals, both in the space of eight minutes.

Kim Kuk-jin made it four in the 81st minute before Odkhuu Selenge scored a consolation goal for the hosts three minutes into stoppage time.The 43 competing Asian countries are vying for only four and a half places at the 2010 finals in South Africa.After five rounds of qualifying, the top four Asian teams will advance, with the fifth-placed country playing off with the winner of Oceania qualifying.—Reuters