ASIA WORLD CUP

The UAE scored twice in the last ten minutes but it was not enough to prevent Gulf rivals Kuwait enjoying a 3-2 away win in the opening match of their 2014 FIFA World Cup, Asian third round qualifying Group B campaign.



Yousef Al Sulaiman gave Kuwait the perfect start when he opened the scoring after just seven minutes before Bader Al Motawaa doubled the visitors' advantage six minutes into the second half.

Kuwait looked to have put all three points in the bag when Al Sulaiman grabbed his second and Al Azraq's third in the 65th minute but the home side rallied and after 2008 AFC Young Player of the Year Ahmad Khalil reduced the deficit in the 84th minute and his Al Ahli team-mate Ismail Al Hammadi added the UAE's second five minutes later it was a nervous finish for the visitors.

Kuwait, who are looking to qualify to the World Cup finals for only the second time after reaching Spain '82, will be looking to build on their impressive opening result on Tuesday when they entertain Korea Republic while the UAE will be confident of bouncing back from their defeat when they travel to Beirut to take on Lebanon, who were hammered 6-0 by the 2002 FIFA World Cup semi-finalists in their Group B curtain-raiser in Korea.