Aussies close in on finals, SKorea edge neighbours

Australia moved to the brink of World Cup qualification Wednesday as South Korea scored a last-gasp goal to shatter North Korean dreams in a match overshadowed by political tensions.

Australia battled to a 2-0 victory over Uzbekistan here to remain unbeaten in their five games and regain top spot in Asian Group A with 13 points.

They would have become the first nation to qualify for the finals if rivals Bahrain and Qatar played out a draw, but the Bahrainis edged their Gulf neighbours 1-0 in Manama to make Pim Verbeek’s Socceroos wait a little longer to ensure qualification.

Japan, who had a night off Wednesday, are hot favourites to join Australia from the group with 11 points from their five games.

Australia’s goals were a long time coming after a flat first half but a strike from substitute Josh Kennedy and a penalty from Harry Kewell inside the final 25 minutes kept them on track.

“I’m very pleased with the 2-0 win,” said Verbeek. “We had a difficult first half but I think the second half we played faster, quicker and with a higher ball speed.”

In Seoul, North Korea looked to have done enough to earn a point to keep them on top of Group B but Kim Chi-Woo gave the South a valuable victory with an 88th minute goal.

It leaves South Korea leading the group on 11 points to the North’s 10, and with a game in hand.

The win means Saudi Arabia need to beat the United Arab Emirates at home later Wednesday to stay in touch. The Saudis have seven points and Iran have six.

Only the top two from each group qualify, with the third placed teams playing off for the right to meet New Zealand for the fifth berth available.

The match in Seoul, only the second FIFA-sanctioned match between them on South Korean soil, was played with tensions high between the two countries ahead of a rocket launch by the communist North.

The North says it plans to fire a rocket to launch a satellite for peaceful space research between April 4-8 but the United States, Japan and South Korea claim it is a pretext for testing its Taepodong-2 missile.

Against this backdrop, the South Korean crowd booed North Korea’s every touch of the ball, rubbing salt in their wounds when substitute Kim’s curling, left-foot freekick found the back of the net.

“This was a big barrier for us to overcome,” said South Korea coach Huh Jung-Moo.

“The players showed great powers of concentration and we tried to attack and that is why were able to get the win.”

In Sydney, the Uzbeks faded in the second half as they felt the effects of their long flight.

They almost had a dream start when striker Farhod Tadjivev sprinted onto a through ball but his shot went across Mark Schwarzer and wide.

Australia had an even better chance six minutes later when Mark Bresciano was found by Scott McDonald only to shoot straight at keeper Ignatiy Nesterov.

Verbeek brought on Kennedy for McDonald and the breakthrough came in the 66th minute with the towering Karlsruhe striker heading home a Bresciano cross.

The match swung decisively towards the home side when Hull City’s Richard Garica was brought down in the box and Kewell converted the spot kick.

In Manama, Bahrain’s victory was secured by striker Fouzi Aaish who scored the all-important goal in the 52nd minute from a free-kick. Bahrain are now third in the Group A table with seven points.