Japan, N.Korea top Asia World Cup qualifying

Victories for Japan and North Korea left them top of their pools after Saturday’s Asian World Cup qualifying action.

The goal by Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura two minutes after the break for Japan at home to Bahrain in Saitama earned a 1-0 victory, meaning they lead group A by one point from Australia.

North Korea’s Pak Choi-Jin and Mun In-Guk found the net as they beat United Arab Emirates 2-0 in Pyongyang to leave them top of Group B by two points from neighbours South Korea.

In the other two matches, Uzbekistan beat Qatar 4-0 in Tashkent in Group A, while Saudi Arabia had a very useful 2-1 victory in Iran in Group B.

The top two from the five-team groups qualify for South Africa next year automatically, while the third-placed teams play off for the right to meet Oceania champions New Zealand with a further spot at stake.

After a scoreless first half, Japan got off to a flying start to the second half with Nakamura opening the scoring in the 47th minute after a shot off a short free-kick looped in.

“I had expected that it would be difficult to win three points, but I didn’t tell my players anything before the game. I didn’t need to. My players know the situation and what they must do,” said Japan coach Takeshi Okada.

“And they played an excellent game. We can play together only once in a while, but I feel this team has been improving each time we play together. However, we have gained nothing yet. We must improve further to be stronger.”

Bahrain’s best chance was a counter-attack in the 14th minute as midfielder Abdulla Fatadi’s sizzling shot went wide — their first clear-cut shot on goal.

North Korea moved within sight of the World Cup finals Saturday with a 2-0 win over United Arab Emirates in Pyongyang, all but snuffing out any hope the Gulf side had of playing in South Africa.

North Korea, the 1966 World Cup quarter-finalists, were far the better team against UAE on the artificial turf of the Kim Il-Sung Stadium.

Pak Choi-Jin scored the opener on 51 minutes with Mun In-Guk putting the game beyond UAE’s reach with a strike in injury time.

Saudi Arabia came from behind to collect a precious three points in Tehran’s Azadi stadium after beating Asia’s other powerhouse Iran 2-1.

Iran drew first blood in the 56th minute when Masoud Shojaei of Spain’s Osasuna fired home a screamer from outside the penalty area to send the home crowd wild.

However, defensive mix-ups cost the Iranians as the Saudis suddenly turned things around.

Ahamd al-Hazazi scored in the 78th minute from inside the box off a pass from Naif al-Dusari, and Osama al-Harbi scored in the 87th minute, stunning the fans into silence, with some spectators chanting slogans against Iranian national team coach Ali Daei and demanding his sacking.

Iran appeared in the World Cup finals in 1978, 1998 and 2006 but their only win to date was over the United States in France in 1998.