INDONESIA DENIED; VIETNAM CRASH AT HOME

Striker Bambang Pamungkas gave the visiting side the lead after 33 minutes when he headed home from an Ismed Sofyan corner.

But Kuwait came back in the second half with the first goal off a penalty when Walied Ali was fouled inside the area by Muhammad Ilham at the hour mark.

Bader Al Motawaa easily converted the spot kick to make it 1-1.

And with just two minutes of the game remaining, Walied Ali’s neat pass found Al Motawaa, who then curled an effort into the net from just inside the area to secure the three points.

The loss for Indonesia was their first in Group B of the 2011 Asian Cup qualifiers after holding Australia and Oman to draws in their first two matches.

In the meantime, ASEAN champions Vietnam crashed to a late stoppage-time header from substitute Raja Rafe as Syria secured a 1-0 win at the My Dinh Stadium to stay top in Group D of the qualifiers.

Vietnam skipper Nguyen Minh Phuong hit the post for the hosts in the first-half but that was the closest they came before Rafe nodded home Firas Al Khatib’s free-kick in the 94th minute.