LAHORE, Feb 15: After two victories against Singapore, Pakistan have joined Australia, Jordan and Uzbekistan in second Olympic soccer qualifying round.
Pakistan reached the second round after a 2-1 away victory and a struggling 3-2 home win over Singapore on Wednesday. Other teams entering into last 24 stage, are Jordan, India, Thailand, Yemen, Vietnam, Indonesia and Hong Kong.
The 24-team second qualifying round having six groups of four teams each, runs through Feb 28 to June 6 with top two teams in each group advancing to the final round to be played having three groups of four teams each.
The final home-and-away round will be held from Aug 22 to Nov 21 with three group winners representing Asia at the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games. China have qualified being the hosts.
Second round groups:
Group `A’: Bahrain, Kuwait, Qatar, Pakistan.
Group `B’: Japan, Malaysia, Syria, Hong Kong.
Group `C’: Oman, Lebanon, Vietnam, Indonesia.
Group `D’: Iran, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Australia.
Group `E’: Iraq, DPR Korea, Thailand, India.
Group `F’: Korea Republic, UAE, Uzbekistan, Yemen.—APP