By IANS
New Delhi : Lebanon rallied from a goal down to crush India 4-1 at the Saida International Stadium in Sidon in the first leg of the opening round of Asian football qualifiers for the 2010 FIFA World Cup, according to information reaching here.
Sunil Chhetri put the visiting Indians ahead on the half-hour mark in Monday night’s clash, but the home side hit back to draw level through Roda Antar five minutes later.
Goals by Mohammad Ghaddar and Mahmoud El Ali within a minute of each other in the 61st and 62nd minutes put the Indians on the back foot. Lebanon added a fourth through Ghaddar 15 minutes before the final whistle to complete the rout.
The teams face off in the second leg in Chennai Oct 28.
In Monday’s other Asian qualifier first leg games, Vietnam were beaten 0-1 at home by the United Arab Emirates, Palestine succumbed 0-4 to Singapore, Thailand thrashed Macau 6-1, Oman beat Nepal 2-0, Yemen defeated Maldives 3-0, Syria downed Afghanistan 3-0 and Bangladesh drew 1-1 with Tajikistan.