Bahrain qualifies for playoff round

Associated Press October 12 Bahrain held Uzbekistan to a 0-0 draw Wednesday in the crucial second leg of an Asian World Cup qualifying playoff to keep alive the tiny Gulf kingdom's hopes of a place in next year's World Cup. Bahrain will face the fourth-place team from CONCACAF in a two-leg playoff for a spot in the finals in Germany. Despite the draw, Bahrain advanced on away goals because it scored in a controversial first-leg rematch against Uzbekistan in Tashkent, which ended 1-1. Uzbekistan won the first leg 1-0 on Sept. 6 but FIFA ordered a replay, ruling that referee Toshimitsu Yoshida made a "technical error" when he disallowed a penalty scored by Uzbekistan's Server Djeparov because a teammate had encroached into the area. Instead of ordering the penalty be retaken, he incorrectly awarded a free kick to Bahrain. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Lineups: Uzbekistan: Evgeniy Safonov; Andrey Fedorov, Asror Alikulov, Mirdjalal Kasymov, Server Jeparov, Vladimir Radkevich, Viktor Karpenko, Marat Bikmoev, Timur Kapadze, Alexei Nikolaev, Anvarjon Soliev, Alexander Geynrikh, Maxim Shatskikh, Zafar Kholmurodov. Bahrain: Ali Hasan Ali Husain; Sayed Adnan, Abdulla Marzooq, Mohammed Hubail, Mohammed Juma Abdulla, Salman Ghuloom Ali, Talal Yusuf, Husain Ali Ahmed, Ala'a Hubail, Mohammed Salmeen, Sayed Mahmood Jalal Rashed Abdulrahman Saif, Hussain Ali Hasan, Saleh Ahmed Ferhan.