Graham Arnold's Socceroos, having been shocked at home 1-0 by Bahrain last week, dominated a Group C encounter with Indonesia but were held 0-0 in front of almost 80,000 fans at the Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta.

Australia carved out a succession of chances but lacked any cutting edge, coming closest when Bayern Munich teenager Nestory Irankunda thundered a shot against the post.

"It was our game all along," Irankunda said. "We should have won it. We should have put them away in the first half."

Next month, Arnold's men face China at home in Group C and then a tough trip to in-form Japan. "There's eight games to go," said Arnold. "It's not like it's a disaster, but I've got to go home and do a lot of thinking."

Saudi Arabia had to play the last 71 minutes of their Group C match against China in Dalian with 10 men, but Roberto Mancini's side found a way to come back from a goal behind to win 2-1 in the dying seconds.

Hassan Kadish equalised with a header from a corner before half-time and repeated the feat in the last minute of the 90 to spark wild celebrations from the visitors. China, who were thumped 7-0 in Japan last week in their opening Group C encounter, had taken the lead in the 14th minute via an Ali Lajami own goal.

Wild weather

South Korea's English Premier League strike force of Hwang Hee-chan and Son Heung-min both scored as they beat Oman 3-1 in Muscat. Wolverhampton's Hwang opened the scoring after 19 minutes before Jung Seungh-hyun's own goal equalised on the stroke of half-time.

Tottenham's Son got South Korea's second, turning outside the box and firing home an unstoppable left-foot finish on 82 minutes. Joo Min-kyu put the result beyond doubt in the 11th minute of added time after being played in by Son.

It was South Korea's first win in the final Asian qualifying phase after they were held goalless at home by Palestine last week. The Palestinians could not repeat their heroic performance in Seoul, however, and were beaten 3-1 by Jordan in a match played in Kuala Lumpur because of the war in Gaza.

North Korea drew 2-2 with Asian Cup champions Qatar in wild weather in a Group A match played in Vientiane. Ri Il Song gave North Korea an early lead, in what was nominally their home fixture, before they were reduced to 10 men when Jang Kuk Chol was red-carded for preventing a goal-scoring opportunity.

Akram Afif scored the resulting penalty and Almoez Ali put the Qataris 2-1 up at half-time. After the break, the heavens opened violently, dumping huge amounts of water on the Laos National Stadium pitch.

Kang Kuk Chol pierced the gloom with a rasping free-kick equaliser from 30 yards before puddles on the pitch grew into lakes leaving the referee no choice but to take the players off.

There was a delay of more than 20 minutes until the rain eased but when the teams resumed there were no further goals as the players struggled on the waterlogged surface. In another Group A match, Uzbekistan beat Kyrgyzstan 3-2 in Bishkek.

The top two from each of the three six-team Asian groups will be guaranteed a place at the expanded 48-team World Cup in the United States, Canada and Mexico. The third qualifying round wraps up in June.

September 10, 2024

Min-Kyu Joo

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