HONG KONG: Japan are on the brink of qualifying for the World Cup after a 3-1 win at China on Tuesday while Son Heung-min scored again as South Korea were held by Palestine.
Indonesia meanwhile stunned Saudi Arabia 2-0 in Jakarta to boost their unlikely hopes of reaching the tournament in North America in 2026.
Headers from Koki Ogawa and Ko Itakura put runaway group leaders Japan two goals up at half time before Lin Liangming pulled one back for China early in the second half.
Ogawa snuffed out China’s hopes of a comeback with his second to silence a crowd of 45,000 in Xiamen, where fans without tickets gathered outside the ground to watch the action on their phones.
Loud booing greeted the Japanese national anthem before kick-off and the game was briefly stopped in the first half when a fan invaded the pitch.
“It was tough at times and we knew that the opening goal was going to be key,” said Dutch-based striker Ogawa.
Japan were playing their first senior international in China in nine years and there is a long history of rivalry between the two countries.
There was a heavy police presence outside the Xiamen Egret Stadium, where about 750 Japan fans were expected to be in attendance.
“All the players got us this win today,” said Japan coach Hajime Moriyasu. “The players on the pitch, the players on the bench and those that weren’t on the bench today — it was down to their energy that we won.”
The convincing victory gave Japan five wins and a draw in Asian qualifying Group C and took them to within touching distance of a place at the World Cup.
The top two teams in each of the three groups will reach the showpiece in the United States, Canada and Mexico.
Second place in Group ‘C’ is wide open after Indonesia beat Saudi Arabia with Marselino Ferdinan scoring either side of half time.
It left Australia, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and China all on six points ahead of the Socceroos’ visit later Tuesday to Bahrain, who have five.
In Group ‘B’, Palestine — nominally hosts for a game taking place in Jordan — grabbed a surprise 12th-minute lead over South Korea thanks to Zaid Qunbar.
The advantage lasted just four minutes, talisman and skipper Son firing in from close range to bring the Koreans level with his 51st goal for his country.
It was all South Korea after that and Son had a goal chalked off for offside late on, but Palestine held on for a valuable point that helps keep them alive.
Despite the 1-1 stalemate the Koreans are firmly on course for the World Cup at the top of the group with four games to go.
In Group ‘A’, talented 21-year-old Abbosbek Fayzullaev scored the only goal to give Uzbekistan a 1-0 win over North Korea in Vientiane, the capital of Laos.
It cemented the Uzbeks’ place in the top two in the group, along with table-toppers Iran, who were 3-2 winners at Kyrgyzstan.
Teams finishing third and fourth in the three Asian groups will go through to a further round of qualifying. North Korea are rooted to the bottom of Group ‘A’ and have yet to win in six games in this phase of qualifying.
Published in Dawn, November 20th, 2024
