Cahill gives Australia win in UAE qualifier for World Cup

Elsewhere two late penalties from Nawaf Al Abed consigned Iraq to a 2-1 defeat and badly damaged their World Cup qualifying hopes.

Iran, who drew 0-0 with China, top the section on goal difference ahead of Korea, both on four points, though Uzbekistan can leapfrog them both by beating Qatar in the day’s final group game.

Carlos Queiroz’s players produced some vibrant attacking football but the hosts did not concede to any goal to make the No. 1 of Asia leave China with just one point.

China are trying to reach their second World Cup finals in history in the tough Group A which also brackets 2022 hosts Qatar, Uzbekistan, South Korea and Syria.

The top two in Group A and B qualify for the World Cup in Russian Federation while the third-placed teams meet to decide who goes into a CONCACAF-Asian Zone playoff for a berth at the finals.

The match was played at Tuanku Abdul Rahman Stadium, also known as Paroi Stadium, in Seremban, Malaysia, since Syria cannot host World Cup qualifiers at home due to the ongoing civil war.

Mohanad Abdulraheem scored early for Iraq, which also lost in Australia, and was still searching for a first point after two matches.

Japan successfully bounced back from its opening loss at home to the United Arab Emirates in Group B. “I was anxious a little bit about the mental condition of the team, but we just really threw ourselves into this game with the desire to win”.

Genki Haraguchi headed the dominant visitors into a first-half lead, and Takuma Asano sealed the win in the second half. “We have eight rounds to go, and I hope we see this scenario positively”, said China coach Gao Hongbo.

Syria goalkeeper Ibrahim Alma made two superb saves to frustrate South Korea in a 0-0 draw in World Cup qualifying.

“This game was very hard psychologically”, Kyodo news quoted Japan coach Vahid Halilhodzic as saying.

South Korea coach Uli Stielike was unhappy with the way Syria tried to slow the game down but said his side had to shoulder the blame for failing to break them down. “I really believe that they can win the rest of their group matches”.