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JOR 2-1 SIN – Yaseen strike seals Jordan’s berth

Anas Bani Yaseen's second-half strike secured Jordan's place at the AFC Asian Cup Qatar 2011™ finals following a 2-1 win over Singapore in their last Group E match at King Abdullah International stadium on Wednesday.

The hosts opened the scoring through Odai Al Saify after nine minutes but Singapore levelled four minutes after the break through Noh Alam Shah.

However, Yaseen grabbed the decisive goal for Jordan a minute after the hour mark.

It was a heartbreaking blow for Singapore as a point would have been enough for them to qualify with Iran having beaten Thailand 1-0 in the other group game.

Jordan started well and it did not take long for them to open the scoring when Al Saify headed home Amer Deeb's cross with less than 10 minutes on the clock.

The goal buoyed the hosts and they dominated possession, but had to wait until the 26th minute to create their second chance when Al Saify's was denied by Singapore goalkeeper Lionel Lewis.

The visitors were struggling to contain Al Saify and he had another chance to score after 39 minutes when he dribbled into the area after a picking up a pass from Hassouneh Al Sheikh (pictured) but he again failed to beat Lewis.

A minute before half time, Al Saify turned provider, sending Al Sheikh free down the left but the Jordanian skipper hit the side netting.

The break seemed to rejuvenate Singapore as they came out strong after the restart and deservedly levelled in the 49th minute when Aleksandar Duric fed a pass to Alam Shah, who slotted the ball into the right corner past Jordan goalkeeper Amer Shafi.

But that good work was undone when Jordan regained the lead in the 61st minute when Deeb's corner from the left was headed home with by Yaseen.

From then on there would be only one winner and only the woodwork denied Jordan scoring a third in the 74th minute when Deeb's drive rattled the bar before the midfielder went close once again eight minutes before time but his effort flew narrowly wide.