Asian World Cup Qualifying Round-Up

Asian World Cup Qualifying reached the halfway stage with a series of tight fixtures on Matchday Five, with the four games producing the same number of total goals.

The section’s big match saw Japan host Australia, where a victory for the hosts would have seen them leapfrog the Socceroos at the top of Group A. However, a tightly fought game predictably ended in a draw in which generally satisfied both teams, consolidating their positions at the top of the group.

However, Japan will be the more worried as they seek to book their place at a fourth consecutive World Cup Finals, they still trail Australia by two points and must still face their main rivals away from home. They will hope to have qualification secured going into what will certainly be a tough final group game.

Bahrain left it very late indeed in Tashkent, eventually defeating Uzbekistan 1-0 thanks to a goal from Mahmood Abdulrahman scored four minutes into injury time. This kept their slim hopes of qualification alive. They are now four points behind Japan and face them in Saitama in the next match in March.

Group B saw more excitement as Korea DPR leapfrogged Iran into second place thanks to a home victory over Saudi Arabia. The only goal of the game scored by Mun In Guk in the first half. Korea DPR haven’t qualified for the World Cup since 1966, and go into the reverse fixtures in a strong position.

Saudi Arabia, having qualified for every World Cup since 1994, now find themselves in fourth place but only three points off the automatic qualification places in the tighter of the two groups in the Asian section.

The group’s other game ended in a 1-1 stalemate in Tehran as Manchester United’s Park Ji Sung grabbed a late equaliser for Korea Republic after Javad Nekounam had given Iran the lead just before the hour. Korea Republic continue to lead the group as Iran slip to third place for the time being.

Iran host Saudi Arabia on Matchday 6 next month in what will almost certainly prove a key match and one that neither team can really afford to lose.

Results, Fixtures and Standings

Group A

Japan 0-0 Australia

Uzbekistan 0-1 Bahrain

                               P          PTS

Australia                    4          10

Japan                        4           8

Bahrain                      4          4

Qatar                         4          4

Uzbekistan                 4          1

28/03/09  Uzbekistan vs. Qatar

28/03/09  Japan vs. Bahrain

Group B

Korea DPR 1-0 Saudi Arabia

Iran 1-1 Korea Republic

                                  P          PTS

Korea Republic              4          8

Korea DPR                    4          7

Iran                               4          6

Saudi Arabia                  4          4

United Arab Emirates      4          1

28/03/09  Korea DPR vs. United Arab Emirates

28/03/09  Iran vs. Saudi Arabia

Top Two teams qualify automatically, third-place teams play-off and the winner faces the winner of Oceania section for the final qualification place.