Iraq maul hapless Lions

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SINGAPORE - Down and already out of the reckoning to qualify from Group A in the third round FIFA World Cup qualifiers, Singapore were shown no mercy last night in Doha.

Iraq only needed a draw to go through as Group A winners, but they toyed and tormented Radojko Avramovic's men, romping to a 7-1 victory at the Grand Hamad Stadium.

Skipper Younis Mahmoud bagged a hat-trick with Karrar Jasim, Hawar Mulla Mohammed, Nashat Akram and Mustafa Kareem driving the final nails into a disastrous qualifying campaign for Singapore.

Isa Halim's 28th-minute goal last night was only the second goal scored by the Lions in six Group A games, all of which ended in defeat.

Aleksandar Duric bagged Singapore's only other goal in the 2-1 loss to China in their opening Group A fixture.

Singapore bow out of the competition with the second-worst defensive record of all 20 teams in the tournament, after conceding 20 goals in six games. Only Indonesia have a worse record, having shipped 26 goals after losing 10-0 to Bahrain yesterday.

"How can any player feel good after 7-1? We did well in the build up to this game, getting a 2-2 draw with Azerbaijan, but things just didn't work for us today, and there were too many sloppy mistakes," said goal-scorer Isa.

"You make mistakes like that against quality opposition, and they'll punish you."

December's AFF Suzuki Cup is the only major competition for the Lions this year, but yesterday's performance showed signs that perhaps a major rethink is required if the team is to meet Avramovic's target of making the final.

"You can say that it's back to the drawing board for us, other countries in the region seem to be moving ahead of us and we all need to work hard, especially with December's AFF Suzuki Cup in mind," he added.

In the other Group A fixture yesterday, China beat Jordan 3-1 to restore some lost pride.

The Lions return to Singapore tomorrow.