Lebanon and Vietnam tied 1-1 in the fifth round of the Asian Cup qualifying tournament in South Lebanon's Saida, both being ruled out of the finals in Qatar in 2011.

Lebanon took the lead in the 20th minute when their free-kick caused goalmouth melee and El Ali scored from a very close range. It is the second goal of Lebanon in all their five matchese played in the group.

Vietnamese Thanh Luong scored the equalizer in the 39th minute.

In the second half, Lebanon dominated in the first 15 minutes. Then it was Vietnam's turn to attack. In the 63rd and 68th minutes Minh Phuong fires were over the crossbar. In the 87th minute Thanh Luong missed an opportunity to give Vietnam the lead when his shot was over the crossbar and the match ended in a 1-1 draw.

Earlier, China drew 0-0 with Syria in a home match.

Both Syria with 11 points from five matches and China with 10 qualified for the Asian Cup finals.

Vietnam ranked third with five points and will meet China on January 17 in Hanoi while Syria will take on Lebanon which has only one point in the last match in Damascus.