ID :
65204
Wed, 06/10/2009 - 22:13
Auther :

Soccer: Qatar rain on Japan`s parade in World Cup q`fier

YOKOHAMA, June 10 Kyodo -
Japan had their World Cup qualification celebrations dampened Wednesday as the
three-time Asian champions were held to a surprise 1-1 draw at home to Qatar in
their penultimate Group A qualifier.
An own goal from Ahmed Ali Albinali gave Japan the perfect start at Nissan
Stadium but Ali Yahya struck from the penalty spot early in the second half to
give the visitors a share of the spoils.
''We couldn't get the right result at home for the fans and I am sorry for
that,'' said Japan coach Takeshi Okada, who was forced to watch from the stands
after he was ejected from the dugout in Saturday's 1-0 win away to Uzbekistan.
''We can learn some lessons from this kind of game and we have to move on.''
Midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura added, ''Even though some new players came in
today I thought we would move better, me included. We tried too hard to force
the pace after scoring early on. It's a disappointing result.''
The result left Japan trailing Group A leaders Australia, their final opponents
next week in Melbourne, by two points after the Socceroos improved to 17 points
from seven games, thanks to a 2-0 win over Bahrain.
Bahrain have seven points while eliminated Qatar have six from eight games and
last-placed Uzbekistan have four. Bahrain host Uzbekistan next Wednesday.
With Makoto Hasebe suspended for two matches and Yuto Nagatomo (ankle) and
Yasuhito Endo (hamstring) both nursing injuries, Okada was forced to make a
handful of changes to the side that beat Uzbekistan to become the first team to
join hosts South Africa at next year's finals.
Atsuto Uchida was recalled after missing the Uzbekistan win through illness and
he wasted no time in bringing the crowd to its feet with the game less than two
minutes old.
Nakamura picked out Uchida on the right wing and the Kashima Antlers full back
whipped in a cross that was turned in by Albinali under pressure from Shinji
Okazaki at the near post.
Needing a win to have any chance of claiming the third-place playoff spot,
Qatar wasted a glorious opportunity to draw level on 10 minutes when Majdi
Siddiq headed wide after arriving completely unmarked at the back post.
The Gulf side continued to create chances, the best of which fell to Mohammed
Alyazidi, who with time and space screwed wide of Seigo Narazaki's left-hand
post three minutes before the break.
Seconds later Marcus Tulio Tanaka scrambled the ball into the net at the other
end but the goal was ruled out after Malaysian referee Subkhiddin Mohd Salleh
spotted an infringement.
Qatar finally got the equalizer they deserved eight minutes into the second half.
Yuji Nakazawa brought down Magid Hassan in the box and Yahya converted the spot
kick with aplomb.
But despite a wave of late pressure Bruno Metsu's side were unable to find an
all-important winner that would have kept their slim World Cup hopes alive.
''My team played an excellent game today and they showed the good face of
Qatari football,'' said Metsu. ''We challenged Japan and I am really proud of
my players.''
The top two teams in Groups A and B advance directly to the finals. The two
third-placed sides meet in a playoff, with the winner of that two-leg tie to
take on Oceania champions New Zealand for a ticket to South Africa.
==Kyodo

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