Action from the match between Pakistan and Yemen which was played at the Grand Hamad stadium in Doha yesterday.

By Agencies/Doha

Pakistan lost 1-3 to Yemen in their first leg of the joint 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup preliminary round 1 qualifier yesterday at the Grand Hamad stadium in Doha yesterday.
Pakistan, at 170, were the highest ranked team among the 12 lesser-ranked Asian teams in the first round. But they could not overcome their spirited opponents. Yemen opened the scoring as early as in the third minute through Abdulwasea al-Matari. The first half ended with that score line.
In the second half, Pakistan tried to start brightly but they couldn’t create any notable chances. It was Yemen who doubled their lead in the 57th minute through Mohammed Boqshan.
Pakistan were then awarded a penalty in the 69th minute which was duly converted by Hassan Bashir. This goal ignited hopes of a comeback but then Yemen restored their advantage just two minutes later through substitute Ala al-Sasi.
Pakistan had arrived in Doha with a score to settle, having lost both legs by big margins to Yemen in their previous World Cup meetings on the road to USA 1994. But this time around Pakistan look like they will be getting knocked out unless they conjure up a miracle in the second leg.

Winning start for India
Stephen Constantine made a winning start to his second tenure as India head coach as the Englishman oversaw a 2-0 victory over former employers Nepal in the first leg of their joint 2018 FIFA World Cup/2019 AFC Asian Cup preliminary round 1 qualifier on Thursday.
After a goalless first half at the Indira Gandhi Stadium, Sunil Chhetri gave India a 53rd minute lead before the 2008 AFC Challenge Cup MVP sealed the win in the 70th minute to give his side a two-goal advantage to take into Tuesday’s second leg at the Dashrath Stadium in Kathmandu.

Brunei win for first time
Brunei also won for the first time in the qualifiers, beating higher-ranked Taiwan with a 36th-minute goal from Adi Said while Cambodia defeated Macau 3-0 in Phnom Penh.
Lowly East Timor earlier kicked off the road to Russia 2018 by registering their first ever World Cup qualifying win, a 4-1 success over Mongolia.
Striker Chiquito Filipe do Carmo scored the first goals of a campaign that will see all of FIFA’s 209 members play more than 800 matches to determine which 31 sides will join the hosts at the finals.
The victory was only the fourth the 185th-ranked East Timor achieved since becoming FIFA members in 2005. Such was the excitement in the Portuguese-speaking Southeast Asian nation, that a big screen was erected outside the Municipal Stadium for fans who couldn’t get their hands on one of the 10,000 tickets on sale.
The six Round 1 winners will advance to the second round where the 34 highest-ranked teams await. The 40 nations will be drawn into eight groups of five teams and compete according to a double round robin format.
The Round 2 qualification matches will be held between June 11, 2015 and March 29, 2016. The group winners and four best runners-up (total 12 teams) will advance to the 2019 Asian Cup finals and the final round of qualifying for the 2018 World Cup.
The next best 24 teams from the preliminary stage of the joint qualifiers will compete in a separate competition for the remaining slots (12 slots or 11 slots + 1 slot for the host) in the 24-team 2019 Asian Cup finals.