World Cup Round-Up: Part 3 - CONCACAF / Asia

CONCACAF

In the North and Central American hexagonal, the top four teams appear to be decided - the question now is which three will gain the automatic qualification places?

The group table has an unfamiliar look with Honduras in top spot, level on thirteen points with the United States. Mexico have climbed to third after their disastrous start and are now a point behind the leaders, level on points with Costa Rica in fourth. A further seven points behind are El Salvador (5th) and Trinidad and Tobago (6th) who can now consider their campaigns all but over.

In the weekend matches, Honduras scored four for the second successive game, this time beating Trinidad & Tobago who could only manage one consolation goal five minutes from the end. Honduran stalwart Carlos Pavon took his international tally to 55 with two goals inside the first half hour. Amado Guevara and David Suazo added the other two in the second half to round off a comfortable win for Honduras who look a sure fire bet to reach the World Cup Finals for the first time since 1982.

The US team had to come from a goal down to beat El Salvador 2-1 in Utah on Sunday. Christian Castillo put the visitors in front just after half an hour had passed with a header that caught Tim Howard well off his line, but the hosts were back in the game just before half time. Clint Dempsey's diving header brilliantly converted Landon Donovan's free kick and it was the same source and set play that gave Hull City's Jozy Altidore the chance to head home in stoppage time at the end of the game.

Finally in San Jose, Mexico continued their amazing post-Sven transformation with a 3-0 win against Costa Rica. Giovani Dos Santos was the key man for the Mexicans following his stunning goal at the end of the first half before setting up Guillermo Franco and Andres Guardado in the second.

So the top four will now battle out a nervy last three fixtures in a bid to avoid fourth spot in the table which will lead to a play-off match against the fifth-best team in South America. This Wednesday's fixtures see El Salvador play host to Costa Rica, while the USA travel to Trinidad and Tobago and Mexico host Honduras.

Full results and standings from the CONCACAF qualifying zone available here.

Asia

While the four automatic qualifiers for South Africa 2010 are already known in Asia, there is a chance for one more team to go through via a play-off against the Oceania winners, New Zealand.

The team that gets to play them will be either Bahrain or Saudi Arabia who played the first leg of their own play-off on Saturday. The match in Manama finished goalless and was notable for Bahrain's inability to convert the many chances they had and Saudi Arabia's apparent willingness to play for a draw.

With the return leg due to be played in Riyadh on Wednesday, the Saudis will favour their chances of winning in front of a home crowd, but they'll have to do so without their star striker Naif Hazazi who is out for six months with a serious injury.

To be honest, we're not sure if the away goal rule will apply to this week's match, but if it does, Bahrain might be the better bet based on their lively performance on Saturday. That said, they too are desperately in need of someone up front that can put the ball in the net, so don't be surprised if penalties are called for on Wednesday.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying Round-up

South America

Brazil and Paraguay continue to travel in opposite directions following the former's 2-1 win over the latter in Recife yesterday.

With heavy rain pouring down constantly throughout, Salvador Cabanas managed to put the away side in front from a deflected free kick after 25 minutes but Robinho volleyed in an equaliser just before half time. Four minutes into the second half, former Lyon striker Nilmar scrambled in a second and that's the way it ended.

Brazil therefore stay top of the qualifying group by a single point, but Paraguay slip to third after Chile notched up another impressive win, 4-0 at home to Bolivia. A brace from Udinese striker Alexis Sanchez and one each from Jean Beausejour and Marco Estrada mean Marcelo Bielsa's side are now second in the group, two points ahead of the Paraguayans.

And there was a big shock in Quito where Argentina crashed to a 2-0 defeat against Ecuador. "They didn't do anything in the first half," said coach Diego Maradona. "In the second half, they got a couple of rebounds and they scored two goals. If we had scored a goal, it would have finished the game off." The trouble for Argentina was that they didn't - Carlos Tevez had a penalty saved in the first half and Lionel Messi was also guilty of missing some decent chances.

Walter Ayovi, however, was not nearly so wasteful as he struck a brilliant 25-yard effort into the top right-hand corner with 18 minutes remaining. When Pablo Palacios added a second eleven minutes later, it was game over for Argentina.



That win lifts Ecuador up to fifth place above Uruguay who drew 2-2 with Venezuela. Colombia are seventh in the table after a 1-0 win over Peru who suffered their eighth straight defeat in qualifying.

Europe

England made it seven wins out of seven following a comfortable 6-0 defeat of Andorra at Wembley last night. Wayne Rooney and Jermaine Defoe provided two goals each while Frank Lampard and Peter Crouch picked up one apiece to leave England in with a chance of qualifying from Group 6 if they beat Croatia at Wembley in September.

Also in the same group, Ukraine beat Kazakhstan 2-1 thanks to two goals from Sergiy 'Cliff' Nazarenko. Kazakhstan had taken the lead after 19 minutes when Tanat Nusserbayev headed in but the Ukrainians (without star player and captain Andriy Shevchenko) battled back to go level on points with Croatia in third place.

In Group 4, Russia put the pressure back on leaders Germany with a convincing 3-0 win over Finland in Helsinki. With Guus Hiddink now devoid of any Chelsea commitments, his concentration was placed squarely on the Russian national team who are now just a point behind the Germans thanks to two goals from Dynamo Moscow forward Aleksandr Kerzhakov and one from Konstantin Zyrianov.

Elsewhere Sweden got their qualifying campaign back on track with a 4-0 win over Malta in Gothenburg. Kim Kallstrom and Zlatan Ibrahimovic were among the scorers as the Swedes drew level on points with Portugal in Group 1. In addition, the Dutch, who have already qualified from Group 9, reaffirmed their top billing with a 2-0 win at home to Norway while Macedonia beat Iceland 2-0 - both of which will give the Scots a little hope of getting the play-off berth in their group.

North and Central America

Javier Aguirre can finally celebrate a win for his Mexican side after a 2-1 victory at home to Trinidad and Tobago, but they didn't find it easy. Guillermo Franco scored after just one minute for El Tri, but with several chances missed the Soca Warriors equalised through Hayden Tinto at the end of the first half.



Three minutes into the second half, Oscar Rojas regained the lead for Mexico with a long-range effort and hung on uneasily for the win, although a return to third place in the group was prevented by a Honduran victory over El Salvador.

Carlos Pavon, Honduras' all-time leading scorer and star striker, hit the winning goal with a half-volley after just thirteen minutes in a bad tempered game that saw seven players receiving a yellow card. The win, however, means Honduras move up to third place in the hexagonal prior to an altogether more tricky game at home to group leaders Costa Rica in August. Also playing in Gameweek 6 are the United States who travel to Mexico and El Salvador who go to Trinidad and Tobago.

Asia

With three of the four automatic qualification places decided, the main focus in Asia now switches to Group 2 where the race for the remaining automatic spot is hotting up nicely.

While second-placed North Korea sat out yesterday's matches, Saudi Arabia drew level with them on points having fought out a tough 0-0 draw with South Korea. Iran picked up a vital 1-0 win over the UAE, who thus far have managed just one point from the 24 available, but their push for an automatic promotion place may have been left too late.

With North Korea and Saudi Arabia on 11 points and Iran on 10, Iran must beat South Korea in their final match next Wednesday and hope that Saudi Arabia and North Korea draw in order to go through. Anything less than a win for Iran will see their chance of gaining the third place play-off spot severely limited.

In Group 1, Bahrain lost 2-0 to Australia yesterday but remain on course for a play-off after Qatar could only draw 1-1 in Japan. That means Bahrain need only a draw in their final match against bottom-placed Uzbekistan next Wednesday to meet the team finishing third in Group 2.

The two-legged play-off for both of the third-placed teams will take place in early September and the winner of that will go on to play New Zealand in a further play-off nearer the end of the year.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying Report: Rest of the World

Asia

As we've just mentioned in our TV Preview, Asia is awash with three new countries that have qualified for the Finals in South Africa next year.

From Group 1, Australia and Japan are assured of occupying the top two places after the Aussies played out a goalless draw against Qatar and Japan won 1-0 away to Uzbekistan.

In Group 2, South Korea made it seven Finals in a row thanks to a 2-0 win over the United Arab Emirates. North Korea stay second but are now three points behind their near neighbours after a goalless draw at home to Iran who stay in fourth.

In next Wednesday's fixtures, Iran travel to Seoul to play South Korea while Saudi Arabia will be hoping to move up from third in Group 2 when they play host to North Korea.

Africa

It's still early days in the final round of African qualifying, but there's already been some eye-opening results from last weekend's matches.

African champions Egypt are still without a win after two games thanks to a 3-1 defeat at the hands of Group C leaders Algeria. All three of the goals for The Desert Foxes came after an hour of play in a 17-minute spell that left Egypt shell-shocked. Al Ahly's Mohamed Aboutrika pulled one back with four minutes remaining, but Egypt will now be looking at their next fixture against Rwanda as a must-win if they're to play in South Africa next year.

Elsewhere Cameroon and Morocco played out a 0-0 draw in Yaounde that will damage both team's chances of progressing in Group A. Gabon, however, beat Togo 3-0 to top the group with two wins out of two leaving both the bookies' favourites in the bottom half of the table.

The other matches around Africa provided fewer shocks - Tunisia maintained their 100% record in Group B with a 2-0 win over Mozambique while Nigeria moved up to second with a 3-0 victory over Kenya that featured two goals from Inter's Victor Obinna.

In Group E, Ivory Coast got their second win of the campaign, 2-1 over Guinea, but they have Burkino Faso for company on six points after they beat Malawi 1-0. Finally in Group D, Ghana predictably maintained their perfect start thanks to a 2-0 win in Mali which gives them a three-point lead over Benin.

South America

After months of dominance in the South American round-robin, Paraguay have finally been knocked off their perch by Brazil who now lead the group table on goal difference.

While Brazil were thumping rivals Uruguay 4-0 in Porto Alegre, Paraguay were struggling to deal with an in-form Chile side who beat them 2-0 in Asuncion. Dunga's side will be delighted with their first win over the Uruguayans since 1976, especially as it comes at a time when Paraguay extend their current run without a win to three. Brazil's goals came from Barcelona's Dani Alves, Juan, Luis Fabiano and Real Madrid's latest signing, Kaka.

For Chile, however, the gap between them and the leaders is now just a single point and a win at home to Bolivia tonight could see them lead the group if other results go in their favour.

In other news, Argentina recovered from their recent 6-1 drubbing at the hands of the Bolivians by scrambling to a 1-0 win over Colombia. Daniel Diaz was on hand with a goal after 55 minutes to give Maradona's men a five point gap ahead of fifth-placed Uruguay.

At the bottom, Peru slumped to their eighth defeat in thirteen games, 2-1 at the hands of Ecuador, while Venezuela surprisingly beat Bolivia 1-0 in La Paz to totally make a mockery of Maradona's claims that playing at altitude can seriously harm a team's performance.

World Cup 2010 Round-up: The rest of the world

And so to the final part of our mammoth World Cup round-up where we tie up all the loose ends in Asia, the CONCACAF region and, to begin with, Africa...

Africa

The third and final round of qualifying got underway last Saturday with the remaining twenty teams split into five groups of which only the winners will reach South Africa 2010.

To start with, we must reflect on the terrible news from Ivory Coast where 19 people were killed and 130 injured in a stampede before the match against Malawi in Abidjan. It's still unclear what caused the stampede, but it is known that thousands of fans were flocking to the Felix Houphouet-Boigny Stadium to witness the return of Didier Drogba to the national side after injury.

Many fans were still outside when the match started and it's believed huge numbers had made a late desperate attempt to get in, thus causing a stadium wall to collapse. Unaware of what was happening, the two sets of players kicked off and after the home side won 5-0, the full scale of the tragedy was made aware to Drogba and his team-mates.

Moving onto other more prosaic events elsewhere, Burkina Faso won their Group E match against Guinea 4-2 to start their campaign level on points with Ivory Coast while in Group B, Tunisia took the early advantage with a 2-1 win over Kenya. Nigeria, favourites to win the group could only draw 0-0 away to Mozambique and it's said the home side could and should have picked up all three points.

Arguably the shock result of this batch of games was the 2-1 win for Gabon over Morocco in Group A. Alain Giresse's side didn't even qualify for the last African Cup of Nations, but two first half goals from Pierre Aubameyang and Roguy Meye were enough to snuff out the threat of the Atlas Lions.

Elsewhere in the group, Emmanuel Adebayor's eleventh minute goal proved good enough for Togo to beat Cameroon 1-0 and he was even allowed the luxury of missing a penalty late on. All is therefore set for a great round of games at the start of June when Togo travel to Gabon and Cameroon play host to Morocco.

Group D predictably saw Ghana get off to a winning start with a 1-0 win over Benin while Fredi Kanoute's goal for Mali was soon equalised by Sudan's El Tahir meaning both teams trail the Black Stars by two points at this early stage.

Finally in Group C, African champions Egypt were held to a 1-1 draw against Zambia while in Kigali Rwanda picked up an impressive point against former African champions Algeria.

June 2009 will see twenty more matches take place, and we'll be reporting on the latest news from across Africa when they happen.

Asia

It's a case of 'as you were' in the two Final Round groups in Asia with the top two teams in each case both retaining their places.

In Group 1, Australia survived a tough first half against Uzbekistan to win 2-0 in Sydney on Wednesday. Goals from Karlsruher's Joshua Kennedy and Galatasaray's Harry Kewell mid-way through the second half ensured the Socceroos stayed top of the table while Japan enjoyed a narrow 1-0 win over Bahrain at the weekend to stay second.

Had Bahrain and Qatar drawn their match a couple of days ago, Australia would have confirmed their place at the 2010 World Cup, but a 52nd minute Fouzi Aaish goal for Bahrain means Pim Verbeek's side will have to wait until at least June 6th to start their celebrations.

In Group 2, South Korea laboured to a rare victory over North Korea thanks to a late goal from FC Seoul's Kim Chi-Woo. It puts the Taeguk Warriors one point clear of their northern neighbours at the top of the group, but Saudi Arabia have turned up the heat on both teams following a poor start to their campaign.

Last Saturday saw the Saudis begin a successful week by beating Iran 2-1 away from home which was followed by a 3-2 win over the United Arab Emirates which ends the latter's chances of reaching South Africa next year.

The Group 2 table appears to show a three horse race but Iran have a game in hand which, if won, will put them only a point behind Saudi Arabia. All remaining matches in both groups will be played throughout June, so watch this space to see which four (or maybe five) lucky teams make it through to the Finals...

North and Central America

News reached us last night that the Mexican FA have sacked Sven-Goran Eriksson following a 3-1 defeat to Honduras which leaves his former side looking at a play-off if they're to reach the next World Cup.

Eriksson went into the match buoyed by a 2-0 win over Costa Rica last Saturday which temporarily lifted the pressure on the former England manager, but the Hondurans were better in every department as a disjointed Mexico once again failed to pick up any points away from home.

That win - Honduras' first in the final round group - lifts them into third place in the table behind leaders United States and Costa Rica. Both teams play each other on March 6th and for home side Costa Rica a win will be vital if they're to overhaul the unbeaten Americans.

SPAOTP's friend on Twitter, @sensei208, tipped us off about the USA's sensational young striker Jozy Altidore and with some justification. The 19-year-old became the youngest ever scorer for the USA when he grabbed the first of two goals in a 2-2 draw away to El Salvador last Saturday. He went onto follow that up with a hat-trick against Trinidad and Tobago during the week.



Without his first goal, the USA may have been on the receiving end of a shock defeat to the Salvadorans who were 2-0 up with 18 minutes remaining. Once Altidore had pulled one back for the visitors, Frankie Hejduk headed in from close range with two minutes left on the clock to salvage a point.

America's second match was an altogether more straight-forward affair and cemented T&T's position at the bottom of the hexagonal. Jozy Altidore's three goals against the Soca Warriors show why he was snapped up by Villareal last year and will no doubt prompt them to recall Altidore from his loan spell at Second Division side Xerez too.

All in all then, the USA and Costa Rica are living up to their top billing at the moment but Honduras are making the most of Mexico's slip. El Salvador and Trinidad & Tobago are yet to win in three matches and with some tough opposition to come in their next games their task won't be getting any easier.

The thing to note, however, is that none of the teams are quite getting things all their own way. The USA and Costa Rica will always bring out the best in the weaker teams and with a relatively few games to play, a point lost or gained here and there could prove vital to all of them. With the competition set to end in October, no-one's taking anything for granted just yet.

World Cup 2010 Round-up: February 2009

With the end-of-year international break now over, it's time once again to plunge head first back into the qualifying competition for the 2010 World Cup Finals.

The last 24 hours have seen a return to action for the remaining teams in Asia and the CONCACAF regions, so let's begin our round-up of who did what with the first of those…

Asia
You'll remember from our last thrilling instalment that we're now in the last qualifying round here and only ten teams are left. Of those, four will earn a ticket to South Africa 2010, namely the two group winners and two runners-up. The two third-placed teams will enter a home and away play-off and the winner of that will meet Oceania winners New Zealand in a further play-off.

In yesterday's Asia matches, there were few goals to be found. In Group 1, Japan and Australia played out an uneventful 0-0 draw to retain second and first places in the group respectively while Bahrain picked up a surprising 1-0 win away to Uzbekistan to leapfrog Qatar into third place.

In Group 2, meanwhile, North Korea did well to beat Saudi Arabia 1-0 in Pyongyang while Iran and South Korea drew 1-1 in Tehran. That win for North Korea means they now squeeze into second place in the group just behind their neighbours south of the border with Iran dropping to third.

With Japan and Australia cruising in Group 1 and South Korea looking solid in Group 2, it would seem that the balance of power is now shifting away from Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates who have been two of the stronger Asian teams of recent times. A resurgent Iran and North Korea means there are now some new teams coming to the fore on the continent, but one of them will require a play-off if they're to reach the World Cup Finals next year.

The next matches in the Asian section will be played on March 28th, and with both group leaders sitting out the action, the key games will see Japan host Bahrain in Group 1 while North Korea play the UAE in Group 2.

CONCACAF
In the North and Central American zone (not forgetting the Caribbean, of course), we're down to the final round-robin group of six teams. The top three at the end of qualifying will go through to the Finals while the fourth-placed team goes into a play-off with the fifth best team from the South American zone.

And what better a way to start this final round of CONCACAF qualifying than with a match up between the two biggest teams, the USA and Mexico. They faced each other for the 56th time in Columbus, Ohio with both teams heading in distinctly different directions. The Americans were looking for a third straight shut-out on the trot while the Mexicans were trying not to contemplate the fact that their coach is perhaps more suited to a career at Portsmouth.

In the wet and windy conditions that prevailed, both sides battled away with no real emphasis on playing sexy football, but out of that it was the USA that scored first. Michael Bradley, son of head coach Bob, finished off a decent move just before half time to put the home side in front and it was Bradley again who doubled their lead in stoppage time at the end of the match.

That win leaves Mexico with only one point from their last four qualifiers and back in the same gloomy predicament they ended the last qualifying round in. Can Sven turn things around in time for Mexico before the end of the round or will it be 'adios Eriksson'?

Elsewhere yesterday, Trinidad and Tobago looked to have their away match against El Salvador all sown up inside the first half an hour, but they were forced to settle for a draw. Carlos Edwards (currently on loan to Wolves from Sunderland) gave T&T the lead with a long range shot after just seven minutes and Dwight Yorke added another from the penalty spot twenty minutes later.

But the home team struck back through an Osael Romero free kick eleven minutes from the end and with the El Salvador fans urging a last ditch equaliser in injury time, their wish was granted when Romero scored his (and his side's) second to earn an unlikely 2-2 draw.

Finally, Costa Rica had a rather more comfortable 2-0 win over Honduras in San Jose. A brace from Andy Furtado early in the second half means the Ticos share the lead at the top of the group after Matchday 1 with the USA, and who's to say they won't be the top two when the group ends in October?

Of more pressing concern are the next set of matches to be played on March 28th and 29th. USA travel to El Salvador hoping not to take their foot off the gas like Trinidad and Tobago did, while T&T play host to Honduras and Sven's Mexico side welcome the arrival of Costa Rica in what could be the key game of all three.

World Cup 2010 Round-up: November 2008

With 2008 ambling its way wearily to an end, November was the last chance for many countries to pick up some badly needed points in their qualifying campaign for the 2010 World Cup. In the CONCACAF region, it was more important than that. Some countries had to win or see an end to their dreams of qualifying for the finals. Let's find out what happened over in...

North and Central America

...this week.

As you may recall from last month's update, three of the six Final Round spots had been filled by Costa Rica and El Salvador from Group 3 and the United States from Group 1. The last round of games this week featured a three-way battle between Mexico, Jamaica and Honduras for both the available places in Group 2, plus a two-into-one fight for the remaining Group 1 spot between Trinidad & Tobago and Guatemala.

In Group 2, Mexico were standing on the precipice. A fixture in every World Cup since 1994, they now had to at least draw away to Honduras to stand a chance of reaching their fifth consecutive Finals. A defeat against Jamaica last month showed a worrying change of form for Sven Goran Eriksson's men, so naturally anything was expected to happen at the Estadio Olimpico in San Pedro Sula on Wednesday.

In the end, Mexico's poor away form was maintained when Ricardo Osorio scored an own goal early in the second half without reply. As the game lumbered on towards its end, the Mexicans became more frustrated and they were to finish with only nine men.

Gerardo Torrado was booked for the second time in the match three minutes from the end for a poor tackle on Honduras' Carlos Costly (a Costly challenge if you will, ho ho) and a minute later Arsenal's Carlos Vela received a straight red for lashing out at Ramon Nunez.

The game ended 1-0 to Honduras which secured their passage through to Round 4, but Mexico were now waiting on the outcome of Jamaica's game at home to Canada.

The Reggae Boys admittedly needed a high-scoring win to leapfrog Mexico in the Group 2 table, but they very nearly achieved it. Former Sheffield United player Luton Shelton put his side 1-0 up after 27 minutes before Marlon King (currently on loan to Hull City) made it two with a 58th minute penalty. Though Colorado Rapids' striker Omar Cummings was to add a third four minutes from the end, it would prove not enough.

Jamaica's 3-0 win over Canada gave them a total of ten points - level with Mexico - but their goal difference was just four goals short of what was required. John Barnes' men ended their third round qualifying campaign unbeaten at home, and it only remains to wonder just what sort of effect he might have had on his team had he taken over as head coach earlier.

Sadly, Jamaica had to admit defeat while Mexico and Guatemala breathed a sigh of relief at reaching the final round. Would Trinidad & Tobago get the draw they needed against Cuba to take the last spot, or could Guatemala surprise everyone with a win over the USA to take it from them?

As it turned out, both matches finished in predictable fashion. The US team, despite already having qualified, were easily the better team as they beat Guatemala 2-0 thanks to second half goals from Freddy Adu and Kenny Cooper. As for T&T, they cruised to an easy 3-0 win at home to Cuba. Sunderland's Kenwyne Jones was first on the scoresheet after 67 minutes, swiftly followed by Dwight Yorke and later Keon Daniel.

All of which wraps up the third round of qualifying in North and Central America. The final round-robin group begins in 2009 and will consist of the following six teams:

Costa Rica
El Salvador
Honduras
Mexico
Trinidad & Tobago
USA

The top three go through to South Africa 2010 while the fourth-placed team enters a play-off with the fifth-best team from South America.

Asia

Over in Asia, things haven't been quite as exciting but they are working their way quietly through their own final round of qualifiers.

Australia have hit the top of Group 1 and are already the team to beat with three wins out of three thus far. This week they inflicted a 1-0 away win on lowly Bahrain thanks to a goal from Palermo's Marco Bresciano. They're now two points clear of Japan who last month slipped up by drawing at home to Uzbekistan but this week thumped Qatar 3-0.

Qatar are a further three points behind Japan in third place while Bahrain and the Uzbeks trail on one point in fourth and fifth respectively.

In Group 2, the four-way tie for the lead we reported on last month has now been simplified thanks to South Korea's admirable 2-0 away win against Saudi Arabia. That win puts South Korea top of the group, two points clear of Iran who gave the United Arab Emirates their first point of the round in a 1-1 draw in Dubai.

North Korea didn't play but hold third place in the group, level on four points with Saudi Arabia in fourth while the UAE trail behind in last place.

And that's just about all for now with regards to the World Cup 2010 qualifying campaign. We'll be back in 2009 to pick up the threads on the final run-in and tell you who's in and who's out.

World Cup 2010 Round-up: October 2008

It's been another busy week of World Cup 2010 qualifiers so let's round up all the important information from around the globe, starting off with…

Africa

…and here we have exciting news about the climax to Round 2 and the teams that have battled through to win a place in the last round.

Many of the continent's heavyweights such as Cameroon, Nigeria and Ivory Coast predictably finished top of their groups, but for others there was disappointment.

Angola and Senegal, both recent attendees at the World Cup Finals, failed to make it through to Round 3. Senegal's fate was sealed following a disappointing 1-1 draw at home to Gambia which left both teams unable to qualify from Group 6 behind Algeria who finished top. Angola's 3-1 win over Niger proved too little, too late as they finished two points adrift of eventual group winners Benin.

Elsewhere there were smiles all round as Malawi, Mozambique, Rwanda and Sudan all made it through to the last round having played formidable opposition in their groups. Joining them will be Togo who were undoubtedly boosted by the return from exile of Emmanuel Adebayor. He bagged four of his side's six goals as they thrashed Swaziland in Accra.

Winner of the award for the most comfortable qualification goes to Nigeria who eventually topped Group 4 by a whopping eleven points. The Super Eagles won all six of their games and conceded only one goal along the way. South Africa, who qualify for the 2010 World Cup as hosts, finished second in the group on goal difference and could only manage two wins throughout the campaign.

The draw for the final round of qualifying in Africa takes place on October 22nd, and here are the teams that will be involved in their seeding groups:

Pot 1 (Seeds)
Cameroon
Egypt
Ghana
Nigeria
Ivory Coast

Pot 2
Guinea
Morocco
Tunisia
Mali
Algeria

Pot 3
Burkina Faso
Gabon
Zambia
Kenya
Benin

Pot 4
Rwanda
Togo
Mozambique
Sudan
Malawi

Europe

Carlos Queiroz's honeymoon period as coach of the Portuguese team appears to have shuddered to an almighty halt after two successive goalless draws in Group 1 this week - one of them against an Albanian side that played with a man down for around half the match.

A 0-0 draw away to Sweden last weekend means Portugal are currently third in the table with only one win from four. Denmark, who beat Portugal 3-2 last month, remain top of the group ahead of Hungary following a 3-0 win over Malta.

Having slumped to a 2-1 defeat against Luxembourg last month, Switzerland bounced right back with two wins on the trot this week. A 2-1 victory over Latvia plus an impressive repeat scoreline against Group 2 leaders Greece means Ottmar Hitzfeld's team are now up to third in the table. Israel are second despite struggling to a 1-1 draw against the Latvians.

For a while it looked like Germany might fail to pick up all three points at home to Wales on Wednesday. Some excellent Welsh defensive play frustrated the Germans for well over an hour until Piotr Trochowski finally grabbed the winner to open up a four point gap at the top of Group 4.

Russia occupy second place in the table having lost 2-1 to Germany last weekend, but a 3-0 win over Finland put their campaign back on track and keeps them level on points with Wales who cruised to a 2-0 win over Liechtenstein last Saturday.

European champions Spain picked up their fourth win in four games to remain top of the group, but they had to come back from 1-0 down against a resurgent Belgian side to eventually pick up all three points in their second match this week. Andres Iniesta had equalised Wesley Sonck's opener for Belgium shortly before half time but it wasn't until David Villa scored two minutes from the end that Spain could finally relax.

Another team with four wins out of four are England who top Group 5 following their 5-1 win over Kazakhstan at the weekend and Wednesday's 3-1 victory away to Belarus. Fabio Capello's side had their unconvincing moments in both matches, but with half the goals coming from Wayne Rooney along with contributions from Rio Ferdinand, Jermaine Defoe and Steven Gerrard, England now have a five-point lead over nearest rivals Croatia. A goalless draw for them against third-placed Ukraine last weekend means they have much to do when the qualifying campaign resumes again next April.

The number of voices calling for the dismissal of French coach Raymond Domenech grow bigger by the day, but the team remain supportive of him following a decent second-half performance against Romania last Saturday. Two goals down at half-time, France looked to be heading for their second loss in the competition but Domenech change his team's tactics and an altogether more fluent team came out to force a 2-2 draw thanks to goals from Franck Ribery and Yoann Gourcuff.

France are now third in Group 7, five points behind their next opponents Lithuania (although they have a game in hand) and Serbia who beat the Lithuanians 3-0 and Austria 3-1 this week.

In Group 8, it was a case of 'as you were' for Italy as they remained top of the table following a goalless draw with Bulgaria and a 2-1 win over Montenegro while Ireland kept in touch with a narrow 1-0 win over Cyprus. Group 9 sees the Dutch go five points clear of nearest challengers Scotland after beating Iceland 2-0 and Norway 1-0. Scotland lost ground by drawing 0-0 with the Norwegians but it could have been oh so different if Chris Iwelumo hadn't missed that sitter at Hampden…

Asia

Just a handful of games took place in Asia on Wednesday, but among them was a convincing 4-0 win for Australia over Qatar. Blackburn Rovers' Brett Emerton scored two for the Socceroos while Everton midfielder Tim Cahill grabbed another to put the Aussies top of Group A by two points. In the other game in the group, Japan were held to a 1-1 draw at home to Uzbekistan.

In Group B, a four-way tie for the lead has emerged with South Korea top of the pile on goal difference. They managed to thrash United Arab Emirates 4-1 with two goals from Lee Keun-Ho.

Like South Korea, Iran also picked up their first win of the round by beating North Korea 2-1. Eintracht Frankfurt's Mehdi Mahdavikia was on hand with the first goal for the home side before Osasuna's Javad Nekonam added a second after 65 minutes.

All of which leaves Saudi Arabia down in third place in the group, but they'll be in action on November 19th when they play host to South Korea while Iran visit the UAE looking to inflict their fourth straight defeat on them.

Also next month, Australia travel to Bahrain in Group A while Qatar are at home to Japan.

South America

Take a leap of faith with us as we proclaim with justified exuberance "Paraguay are the kings of South America." Yes, it's probably the right time to start looking upon Gerardo Martino's side as the best side on the continent as they maintained their excellent start to the South American qualifying competition.

Up to now, Paraguay have only lost one of their ten games (a 4-2 defeat away to Bolivia in June) and this week saw them add another couple of 1-0 wins to their tally against Peru and Colombia. They now head the table on 23 points - three more than they accumulated in the entire 2006 qualifying group, and they still have eight games left to play.

Brazil now occupy second spot thanks to a third straight goalless draw at home against Colombia and a 4-0 away win in Venezuela. The former of those games saw head coach Dunga subjected to the sort of booing that makes the Ashley Cole story seem like a whole load of fuss about nothing.

Luckily for Dunga, Brazil seem to be playing better on the road and are still able to boast just one defeat in ten like Paraguay. It's just a shame they've only won four out of those ten, otherwise they'd probably have qualified for the next World Cup by now.

Freefalling in a big way are Colombia. They're now seventh in the table and have now gone 532 minutes without scoring a goal. Admittedly their last two games were against the might of Brazil and Paraguay (of which they earned a creditable draw against the former, as we've mentioned), but they've now gone six games without a win and have scored just four goals in the whole campaign thus far.

That's good news for Chile, amongst others, who have climbed to fourth following an excellent 1-0 win over Argentina on Thursday night. Fabian Orellana grabbed the vital winner shortly before half-time to put Chile level on points with their opponents.

The impact of that win for Chile - their first over Argentina since 1973 - was monumental insofar as it cost Alfio Basile his job as coach of the Argentinean side. Basile quit his post for personal reasons yesterday after a recent poor run of form and though Argentina picked up a useful 2-1 win over Uruguay last Saturday, the damage, it seems, had already been done. Argentina now lie third in the qualifying table with eight games remaining.

Luckily for the AFA, the search for Basile's successor can now be conducted at a leisurely pace as the South American qualifying campaign goes into hibernation until March 28th 2009 when the competition begins once again.

North and Central America

Costa Rica became the first team to qualify for the final group stage in the CONCACAF region last weekend following their 4-1 away win over Suriname. A 2-0 victory over Haiti four days later secured top spot in Group 3 as El Salvador also booked their place as group runners-up. A 3-0 win over the Surinamese means they'll be in the group of six that battle it out for the three qualifying spots for South Africa when the competition begins in 2009.

Elsewhere, the USA added their names to the list following a comprehensive 6-1 rout of Cuba on Saturday. DaMarcus Beasley scored two and Landon Donovan, Brian Ching, Jozy Altidore and Oguchi Onyewu picked up one each in a victory that did much to boost the fans spirits just days before Trinidad & Tobago inflicted a 2-1 defeat on them to improve their own chances of qualifying.

T&T are now second in Group 1, three points ahead of Guatemala and need just a draw at home to Cuba on November 19th to book their place in the last round. Guatemala travel to the States on the same day hoping that their hosts have the same relaxed mentality that they showed against Trinidad and Tobago this Wednesday.

Finally to Group 2 where Sven's Mexico side suffered a shock 1-0 defeat away to Jamaica last weekend, stalling the Mexicans' chances of securing a place in the next round. Ricardo Fuller's 14th minute strike gave the Jamaicans their first win of the campaign, swiftly followed as it was by their second on Wednesday at home to Honduras, 1-0. Luton Shelton was on hand with the winner this time to force a three-way fight for the two qualifying spots in the group.

Honduras are the meat in the Mexico/Jamaica sandwich, and they retain second spot following a 3-1 win over Canada on Saturday. All of which means the last round of Group 2 fixtures a month from now are crucial in deciding the two teams to go through. The crunch match is undoubtedly the one between Honduras and Mexico where a draw for Eriksson's side will prove enough for them, while Jamaica have the considerably easier job of trying to beat Canada at home.

So have Honduras stumbled at the wrong moment? Will the crack in Mexico's form turn into an irreparable crevasse that sees them fail to qualify for a World Cup for the first time since 1982?

Join us next month to find out…

World Cup 2010 Round-up

We know it's been a week or two since the most recent round of World Cup qualifiers took place, but we never quite got round to summing up all the action from outside Europe, so here's our whistle-stop tour of all you need to know, starting with…

South America
It seems we were a little hasty to cast our judgement on Brazil after the September 6th/7th matches. Brazil's surge up to second spot in the table came to a crashing halt when they could only draw 0-0 with bottom-dwellers Bolivia. With Argentina also drawing against the lower-placed Peru 1-1, Paraguay were able to extend their lead at the top by beating Venezuela 2-0.

Cristian Riveros and Nelson Valdez put the game out of reach before half time in Asuncion to leave the Paraguayans four points clear of Brazil, Argentina and a Chile side that bounced back from their 3-0 drubbing against the Brazilians by beating Colombia 4-0.

That result sees Chile push the faltering Colombians out of the automatic qualification places with Uruguay occupying the play-off spot following their goalless stalemate against Ecuador.

Oh and one other piece of late breaking news: Colombia's head coach Jorge Luis Pinto has been fired after his team's recent run of poor form. His replacement's first game will be next month against Paraguay… nice.

Yes, the CONMEBOL section resumes with another double-header programme between October 11th and 15th where the top three all look to be facing (supposedly) weaker opposition. In this part of the world, however, don't be surprised if the likes of Argentina, Brazil and Paraguay all slip up somewhere along the line.

North and Central America
As predicted by us (and probably most of you, to be fair), each of the three Third Round groups in the CONCACAF section are all being led by the strong favourites in each one.

The USA have a 100% record after three games in Group 1, the second of which was the historic meeting with Cuba in Havana on September 6th. Clint Dempsey's first half goal proved to be enough in what was a slightly uninspiring performance in front of a partisan crowd of 8,000, and with a more convincing 3-0 home win over Trinidad and Tobago taking place four days later, the States look almost home and dry already in their group. Guatemala are their nearest challengers some five points behind, and despite beating Cuba 4-1 at home they could only earn a 1-1 draw with the Soca Warriors.

In Group 2, Mexico have a maximum nine points to their name and look totally at ease against all-comers thus far. Earlier this month, they beat Jamaica (who this week announced former England star John Barnes would be their new head coach) 3-0 before a narrow 2-1 win over Canada ensued. Honduras almost matched the Mexicans goal for goal after beating the Jamaicans 2-0 four days after their own 2-1 win away to Canada on September 6th. Honduras are now second in Group 2, three points behind Mexico.

Finally in Group 3, Costa Rica lead the way with three wins out of three. In their pair of games this month they managed to score ten (seven at home to Suriname) and concede just one in their away win in Haiti.

El Salvador are doing their best to stay in touch but find themselves three points behind. They managed to notch up a 5-0 win at home to Haiti along with a 2-0 away win in Suriname.

The next double header's played on October 11th and 15th and sees a reversal of the previous two fixtures taking place. That means Cuba go to the USA looking for their first win, Mexico go to Canada hoping to avoid another scare and Costa Rica look to inflate their +10 goal difference tally with a repeat performance against Haiti and Suriname.

Africa
We've much to get through here as there's just one fixture remaining for most teams in each of the twelve groups. That means if you're not one of the countries still in with a chance of finishing top, you're probably stand a fair chance of getting one of the eight best runners-up places which also guarantees entry to Round 3.

A few months ago, we told you that Nigeria had become the first team to confirm their place in the next stage of the African qualifying competition, and this month three more managed to join them - Cameroon and Benin.

In Group 1, Cameroon got the vital win they needed by beating the Cape Verde Islands 2-1 but the islanders could yet grab one of those valuable second place finishes if they can get at least a draw against Tanzania next month.

In Group 3, Benin beat nearest challengers Angola 3-2 this month leaving the Angolans and Uganda to fight over the runners-up spot. The final round of games in the group see Uganda play at home against the already qualified Benin while Angola are at home to bottom-placed Niger. An intriguing finish to that group looks to be on the cards.

In the other groups, there are more permutations surrounding who could go through than there are English words in Juande Ramos' vocabulary. In Group 10, any of the four teams involved could yet progress, although leaders on goal difference Mali had to suffer a recent defeat against second-placed Congo. They'll be grateful to face bottom-of-the-group Chad next month while a resurgent Sudan play hosts to the Congolese.

Group 12 is almost as tight with the top three all still looking to go through to Round 3 in October. Egypt have a three point lead at the top and should be all set to confirm their place when they play Djibouti next month as their opponents are yet to pick up a point thus far. But it's the teams in second and third place, DR Congo and Malawi that will battle it out to go through when they meet in Blantyre in three weeks' time. DR Congo won 1-0 in their first encounter in June but may be feeling less than confident after their recent defeat by the same score at home to the Egyptians.

Only one point covers the top three in Group 6, so that means Algeria's slender lead of one point may yet prove insufficient as Gambia and Senegal follow on in hot pursuit. As it is, Algeria may be the more relaxed going into the final fixtures on October 11th and 12th as they play the only team in the group that can't go through - Liberia. Senegal play Gambia in Dakar needing to win if they're to reach the Finals again after a six-year absence.

In a tight Group 7, Ivory Coast find themselves leading the way despite drawing three of their five matches so far - the most recent being against Mozambique a fortnight ago. The Ivorians' final game comes at home to their only challengers, Madagascar. A draw will be enough for Ivory Coast to go through, but a win for their opponents by four clear goals will see them swap places. At that point, The Elephants will have to suffer the lottery of the runners-up placing system, but to be honest, we don't think it'll come to that. Both sides drew 0-0 in Antananarivo back in June, and a similar result may yet prevail.

By way of a sum-up, here's the need-to-know on the remaining groups. Libya need just a draw against second-placed Gabon in Group 5 while a slip-up for Gabon could let Ghana through to take one of the top two spots if they can beat lowly Lesotho.

Morocco play host to Mauritania next month looking for the win that will secure their place in Round 3. They currently lie second in Group 8 behind Rwanda, but a win will put the Moroccans top on goal difference. In Group 9, however, Tunisia look as though they'll have to qualify as one of the best runners-up. They're currently three points behind leaders Burkino Faso with a much inferior goal difference. The two sides recently fought out a goalless draw in Burkino Faso leaving the hosts as good as qualified for the next stage.

Finally in Group 2, a draw between Kenya and Guinea will be good enough to see the former go through, and perhaps the latter too if they turn out to be one of the best runners-up while in Group 11, Zambia will be watching on helplessly as Togo play at home to Swaziland. A draw or a win for Togo will see the Zambians make it to the third round while a win for Swaziland will mean they're knocked off the top and entering the runners-up lottery.

Asia
It's still early days here in the fourth and final round so there's not too much in the way of excitement at the moment. In Group 1, Japan got a win in their first and only match so far, 3-2 away to the Bahrainis while Australia also got their campaign underway with a 1-0 away to the Uzbeks. Qatar top the group, though, after beating Uzbekistan 3-0 and drawing 1-1 with Bahrain.

Saudi Arabia are top of Group 2, picking up four points out of their first six with a draw at home to Iran and a win in the United Arab Emirates. North Korea join them on four points following an impressive 2-1 win in the UAE and a 1-1 draw with their South Korean counterparts.

The top two in each group are guaranteed a place in the 2010 Finals while the two teams finishing third play each other in a play-off, the winner of that going on to another play-off with the winner of the Oceania section. If only we knew who that might be...

Oceania
New Zealand are the winners of the Oceania section after a brace of victories over closest challengers New Caledonia. That means with one match left to play against Fiji, the All Whites are assured of a high-profile showdown with one of the Asian elite as well as a place in next year's FIFA Confederations Cup.

Well done to them on a competent qualifying campaign and let's hope they can go one better by reaching South Africa in 2010, if only to silence those people who snigger about the Oceania section being a waste of time.

World Cup 2010 Qualifying Update (Part 4)

And so to the fourth and final part of our round -up of the May and June World Cup 2010 qualifiers. Today we cover the Asia and Oceania sections...

Asia

Overview
A complicated process here. In Round 1, thirty-eight teams faced each other in nineteen home-and-away matches. Of the nineteen winners, the eleven highest-ranking teams (and by that we think FIFA mean those teams that won by the biggest margins) received a bye to Round 3 while the other eight played out Round 2 as a series of four home-and-away ties.

The winners of those games advanced to Round 3 where they went into the hat with the eleven biggest winners from Round 1 and the top five seeded teams overall who were given a bye (among whom were Australia, Japan and South Korea). These 20 teams were then drawn into five round-robin groups of four where the winners and runners-up go through to Round 4. (Just for the record, Round 3 has just finished - more of which shortly - and Round 4 gets underway on September 6th).

Finally in Round 4, the ten remaining teams are split into two round-robin groups of five. The winners and runners-up from both groups will qualify for World Cup 2010, while the two third-placed teams go into a home-and-away play-off. The winner of that play-off... does NOT qualify for the World Cup Finals, oh no - for them there's the agony of one more play-off against the top team from Oceania.

Then and only then will we know all the Asian teams going through to South Africa 2010... by which time qualification for World Cup 2014 will probably be underway, but never mind...

News
So as mentioned before, Round 3 came to an end towards the end of June and of all the five groups involved, Group 1 was easily the toughest fought. In it were Asian champions Iraq, Australia - relative newcomers to the Asian zone and one of the favourites, 2002 World Cup finalists China and the never-to-be-overlooked threat of Qatar.

If we say that none of the four teams managed to win any more than there of their six games, that should give you a measure of their collective lack of consistency. Australia seemed to make the best start with wins over Qatar and Iraq and a draw against China, but defeats to China and Iraq were to follow soon after and the Aussies were by no means certain of finishing in the top two going into the final round of games.

Fortunately for them, the threat from Iraq fizzled out in the last game of the group as Qatar gained a vital three points to snatch the runner-up spot in the group. Though they'd lost in both matches to the Australians, Qatar did well against the other teams in the group, and with China's only win coming in their last game against Australia, it was the Aussies and Qatar (above right) that booked their place in Round 4.

Group 2 had one clear favourite in the shape of Japan, and they didn't disappoint, topping the group with thirteen points from a possible eighteen. That meant there'd be a bit of a surprise in finding out who would take second spot in the group, and it would eventually go to Bahrain.

For them, the battle was won in the first half of their campaign, winning their opening three games against all of their opponents. The only team likely to stop them were Oman, but their challenge was never a strong one so Bahrain were home and hosed going into their last match against Japan who had already qualified. Thailand finished last in the group with just one point, picked up from their home match against Bahrain.

Group 3, similarly, had two front runners of its own and with a pleasant sense of symmetry and international accord, both qualifiers came from either side of the Korean border. Shoot, they even finished on the same amount of points in the end. Beat that, Ban Ki-moon.

Yes, it was a Korean one-two in the end with the South blazing their way to the top of the group unbeaten and scoring ten goals while conceding only three. The North matched them point for point, winning three and drawing the other three of their games, but they had a much more economical approach. They scored just four and didn't concede any. I think that's what's known as a 'mean defence', isn't it?

The other two teams in the group, Jordan and Turkmenistan, could hardly get a look in and had to make do with trying to score points off each other. This turned out to be a fruitful exercise for Jordan who beat the Turkmen 2-0 on both occasions, but neither could get any more than a single point off the two Koreas.

And so it ended with South Korea top and North Korea second, split only on goal difference, with Jordan finishing third, five points behind and Turkmenistan last on just one. And you might be wondering how those peace-loving Koreans faired when they played each other? The answer: both games ended goalless. How very amicable.

There was another two-horse race in Group 4, this time won easily by Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan, well ahead of Singapore and Lebanon. The two favourites made light work of their opponents, both winning five out of their six games. Their only defeats would turn out to be against each other.

Singapore's six points came from both their wins over the hapless Lebanese team who ended their campaign with a big fat zero in the Points column, but at least they can rest assured they didn't suffer the biggest humiliation of the competition. That undoubtedly went to Singapore who lost 7-3 at home to Uzbekistan despite being level at 2-2 just half an hour into the game.

Finally to Group 5 where Iran and the United Arab Emirates were expected to be the runaway favourites, but only Iran lived up to their reputation. Despite a slow start, Iran finished their campaign with three draws and three wins and comfortably topped the group on twelve points.

The UAE, however, were less sure of themselves. They had to fight off the attentions of Syria who were also struggling to gain any consistency and as the competition wore on, the daylight between them grew less and less. It was with considerable irony, then, that both teams met each other in a do-or-die game to decide the final qualifying spot in the group.

Syria needed to beat the Emirates by three clear goals to go above them on goal difference. Adopting a predictably offensive strategy, Syria went 2-0 up thanks to a goal either side of half time from Jehad Al Houssain, but with just seven minutes left on the clock, any hopes the Syrians had of winning came to an abrupt end. UAE striker Ismail Matar converted a penalty to pull the score back to 2-1, and though Syria picked up a third through Firas Al Khatib a minute from time, it was not enough. The United Arab Emirates were through to the next round by a single goal and the gallant Syrians were out.

With the ten qualifying teams known, the draw was made for the two Fourth Round groups, and here's how the teams fell into place:



At first glance, Group 2 appears to be the toughest, containing three of the five group winners from the previous round. It also features the inseparable pairing of North and South Korea along with the tough Uzbekis, although Group 1 will see a fascinating re-enactment of the Australia / Qatar tussle with Japan thrown in for good measure, too.

By way of a prediction, we're going for Uzbekistan, Japan, South Korea and Saudi Arabia as the four automatic qualifiers with Australia and the United Arab Emirates entering the Round 5 play-off. If that's the way it all pans out, you can expect some great games and some shocks along the way...

Oceania

Background
Easy-peasy, this. Nine teams started out in Round 1 (ten, if you include the non-FIFA affiliated Tuvalu), and from them, three progressed to Round 2 to join the seeded New Zealand.

In Round 2, all four teams play in a round-robin group and the winning team goes through to a play-off against the fifth best team from Asia.

News
As you'd expect, New Zealand are the hot favourites to represent Oceania in that Asian play-off and so far they've won all three of their games to lead the group. New Caledonia (seen right against Tuvalu) are only a point behind them at the moment, but they've played an extra match and the other two teams, Fiji and Vanuatu trail way behind with just a point each.



So the big question is 'when do New Zealand and New Caledonia play each other next'? Well as luck would have it, that's on September 6th in Noumea and if the All Whites win, they'll have virtually booked their place in the Asian play-off. Only a win for New Caledonia in the second match against New Zealand four days later and a loss for New Zealand against Fiji in November will provide any opportunity for the New Caledonians to succeed.

And that's that. All the qualifiers thus far have now been covered, but there are more on the way during the next month or so and you can bet we'll be back to give you news of those when they happen. Hopefully this time you won't have to wait so long for them, if you're lucky...

Asian Cup 2007 - Semi Final Review

Before we look at what happened in the Asian Cup 2007 semi-finals, let's fill you in on the outcome of the two remaining quarter-finals at the time of our previous report.

Iran v Korea Republic
A quarter-final between Iran and the Korean Republic is something that's come to be expected in the Asian Cup of late. Iran won this encounter 4-3 in China three years ago, but Korea were the victors by two goals to one in Lebanon in 2000 following a 6-2 win for Iran in the UAE four years before that.

This time around, a lively and exciting encounter took place at a largely-empty Bukit Jalil Stadium in Kuala Lumpur. Both teams created chances in the first half which were largely denied by the on-form goalkeepers at either end. The second half had a more reserved feel and when the 90 minutes ended goalless, the half an hour of extra time followed a similar line too.

Neither team seemed prepared to gamble on finding a winning goal and so the second of three quarter-finals had to be decided on a penalty shoot-out. Though substitute goalkeeper Vahid Taleblou managed to save Korea's third penalty, Lee Woon-Jae stopped two for the opposing side, giving the Korean Republic a path through to the semi-finals 5-4 where they would play Iraq. More of which later...

Saudi Arabia v Uzbekistan
One of the most interesting pairings came in the last of the quarter-finals between the Saudis and Uzbekistan, and the former couldn't have wished for a better start. Yasser Al-Qahtani put Saudi Arabia 1-0 up after just three minutes when Uzbek 'keeper Ignatiy Nesterov could only parry a shot from Abdulrahman Al-Qahtani.

A couple of minutes later, Uzbekistan nearly equalised through Server Djeparov but his shot hit the post - an occurrance which would happen a further four times for his side during the match. Uzbekistan launched wave after wave of attack, dovetailing the Saudis who were giving as good as they got. Despite all the end-to-end action, the score remained 1-0 at the end of the first half.

The second half panned out in much the same way, but as time marched on Uzbekistan opened up more and more in their search for an equaliser. Somewhat predictably in the 75th minute, Ahmed Al-Mousa took advantage of the gaps that were appearing to make it 2-0 to Saudi Arabia.

Game over... or so they thought because with just nine minutes remaining, Uzbekistan finally found the net (albeit scrappily and from close range) when Pavel Solomin made it 2-1 to give the Saudis a nerve-wracking end to the game. Alexander Geynrikh hit the post two minutes later to really send the pulses racing, but it was not to be for Uzbekistan. Saudi Arabia had made it through to the semi-finals to play Japan in a replay of the 2000 Final which Japan won 1-0. Could they get their revenge this time?

Semi Finals
July 25th was crunch time for the four teams who were eyeing a place in the Final of the Asian Cup 2007. Iraq had never played in the Asian Cup Final, but to get there they would have to beat a South Korea team who had won the competition in its first two outings and appeared in the semi-finals in 1988 and 2000. Elsewhere, Japan would face Saudi Arabia. Betweem them they had won each of the last six Asian Cups, but only one would stand a chance of lifting the trophy this year...

Iraq v Korea Republic
A deluge of rain in Kuala Lumpur made for plenty of football of the far-from-pretty variety in the first semi final. Any attempts on goal that arrived were evenly shared between both sides but neither could put the ball in the net prior to half time. After the break, the Koreans nearly went ahead when Sabri had to clear the ball off the Iraqi goal line following a free-kick by Yeom Ki-Hun but after that the attacks from both sides proved just as impotent as those in the first half.

Through extra time, both teams offered more in the way of high and wide shooting which meant a penalty shoot-out was needed to settle the match. After six successful shots went in, Sabri saved a weak effort by Yeom Ki-Hun to give Iraq the advantage. Ahmed Mnajed then put Iraq 4-3 in front before Kim Jung-Woo’s final penalty for the Koreans hit the right post. It meant Iraq were through to their first ever Asian Cup Final while for the Korean Republic, their search for a first win since 1960 would go on.

Iraq face South Korea in a penalty shoot-out


Japan v Saudi Arabia
It was difficult to know who'd run out the winners of this match as both teams battled it out in a great contest. Saudi Arabia seemed to start the slowest of the two but when a free kick fell to Yasser Al-Qahtani in the 35th minute, Kawaguchi was helpless to stop the resulting shot in the Japanese goal. 1-0 to Saudi Arabia.

Their celebrations had barely subsided when two minutes later Yuji Nakazawa headed home an Endo corner to level the scores at 1-1. Shortly after, Nakamura almost scored from a free kick when Yasser Al-Musalim made a hash of collecting the ball, but the game remained level going into half time.

Malek Maaz made sure the second half got off to a bang as he headed in Ahmed Al-Bahari's precise cross after just two minutes, but Japan again came back quickly. With 53 minutes on the clock, Yuki Abe unleashed an excellent bicycle kick to level the scores at 2-2 but his time as hero was all too brief. Just four minutes later, Malek Maaz skipped past a dozing Abe and unleashed a fierce drive beyond Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi in the Japanese goal to put the Saudis back in front, 3-2.

Japan struggled to find another equaliser but substitute Naotake Hanyu came closest as his thunderous long-range effort crashed off the cross bar in the 75th minute. In the end, Japan's determination and competitive spirit went unrewarded as the game finished with victory for the Saudis who revenged defeats to the Japanese in the 1992 and 2000 finals.

Japan face Saudi Arabia in the second semi-final


So that's it - the Final in Jakarta on Sunday will be between Iraq and Saudi Arabia with the first course coming the day before in the form of a third/fourth place game between Japan and South Korea. Both matches are mouth-watering prospects and rest assured they'll be covered here at SPAOTP.com next week.