Iran uphold favourite´s tag against NKorea

Iran inflicted a 2-1 Asian zone 2010 World Cup qualifier defeat on North Korea at the Azadi stadium here on Wednesday.

Iran went into this game with the psychological edge, having defeated the North Koreans twice in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.

Eintracht Frankfurt's Mehdi Mahdavikia headed the hosts' into a ninth minute lead when he picked up a pass from Iran side Esteghlal's Mojtaba Jabbari from outside the penalty area.

Javad Nekonam who plays for Osasuna in Spain, doubled up in the 65th minute when he latched onto Osasuna teammate Masoud Shojaei pass, this time from inside the penalty area.

North Korea's consolation goal came from a header scored by Jong Tae Se in the 70th minute when he received a pass from a free kick outside the penalty area.

The match was watched by more than 40,000 spectators in Tehran's Azadi stadium.

The win upheld Iran coach Ali Daei's pre-match prediction of taking all three points.

Iran have an unbeaten record over North Korea, winning 10 times and drawing three matches

In Group B's other game Wednesday South Korea, who made the semi-finals on home turf in 2002, eased past winless United Arab Emirates 4-1 in Seoul.

Iran now level with Saudi Arabia and North Korea and South Korea on four points from two games. North Korea has four points but from three games.

The Saudis had a night off. United Arab Emirates, the fifth team in group B are footing the table with no points.

Previously in the qualifiers, Iran managed a 1-1 draw away to Saudi Arabia. Iran made it to the finals in 1978, 1998 – when they beat the United States in France – and 2006.

Asia has four automatic berths in the finals in South Africa in 2010 while the fifth-placed side play off against a team from Oceania.0