All Kinds of Upsets in Asian World Cup 2010 Qualification

Not a great day for the big boys in Asian World Cup 2010 Qualification yesterday. Three time Asian champion and World Cup finals regulars Saudi Arabia went down 3-0 to Uzbekistan, who exited World Cup 2006 qualification in controversial circumstances after their 1-0 win over Bahrain was voided due to a refereeing mistake. But with two wins out of two they now top Group 4, so maybe 2010 is the year Uzbekistan gets on the world footballing map? As for Saudi Arabia, they’re now third in Group 4.

Top two from each group qualify for the next round of qualification, so questions will be asked.

Bahrain themselves were busy, beating much-more-fancied Japan 1-0. Like Uzbekistan, Bahrain top their group (Group 2) with six points. A meeting between the two in the final round of qualification would be all kinds of dramatic. As for Japan, they’re obviously reeling from the surprise defeat, but are still in second place and likely to qualify.

Legendary player Ali Daei is still searching for his first win as Iran coach. He must have thought he had it when his team were 2-0 up against Kuwait (see the video for an ace bike) within six minutes. But if he did then he was wrong, as Kuwait fought back to make it 2-2 with an 82nd minute equalizer. Iran are still winless, but are still in second place in Group 5 with two points.

Finally, the supposedly dramatic game clash between North and South Korea, so dramatic it had to be played in China, yielded nothing but tension and a goalless draw.

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