Australia and South Korea took maximum points to reinforce their credentials in the race to the World Cup finals but Asian powerhouse Japan struggled to a 1-1 draw with Uzbekistan yesterday.

The Socceroos scored a clinical 4-0 win over Qatar in Brisbane with a brace by Blackburn Rovers' star Brett Emerton and goals from Everton's Tim Cahill and another by Josh Kennedy.

It puts Pim Verbeek's men on top of Group A with six points from two games, following their earlier win against Uzbekistan in Tashkent.

Qatar have four points from three games. Japan also have four points but have played one match less. Bahrain, with one point, didn't play Wednesday.

In Group B, South Korea, who made the semi-finals on home turf in 2002, eased past winless United Arab Emirates 4-1 in Seoul with a double from Lee Kuen-Ho and goals by Manchester United's Park Ji-Sung and Kwak Tae-Hwi.

In Tehran Iran beat North Korea 2-1 with goals from Mehdi Mahdavikia and Javad Nekounam.

Those two results left a bottleneck at the top of the table with four teams - South Korea, North Korea, Iran and Saudi Arabia, who had a night off, - all on four points.

Australia, looking for back-to-back trips to the 2010 World Cup finals after reaching the knockout round in Germany two years ago, were good value for their victory.

The result never looked in doubt after Cahill pounced with a rapier finish in the ninth minute.

A long ball from Luke Wilkshire was helped on by David Carney and Kennedy to leave the Everton poacher unmarked on the left-hand side of the box to drill home for his 14th goal in 29 internationals.

Cahill was in the action again eight minutes later when he was impeded by Abdulla Koni and was awarded a penalty.

Emerton converted to give the confident Australians a two-goal buffer. They wrapped it up with Emerton's second goal, finishing off lead-up play from strikers Scott McDonald and Kennedy, in the 59th minute.

Kennedy capped a fine match when he headed home Wilkshire's deep cross with 14 minutes left.

"I'm not going to start running around with a bottle of champagne and celebrating yet, but it's six points from two games and five goals with none conceded," coach Verbeek said.

Japan should have done better against Uzbekistan who had lost their previous two qualifying games.

The home side rode their luck in Saitama, coming from a goal down to salvage the draw.

Striker Keiji Tamada scored the crucial equalizer after a prolonged bout of Uzbek pressure.

Celtic midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura lofted the ball into the box where striker Yoshito Okubo got a touch before Tamada stabbed it in from close range in the 40th minute.

Uzbekistan were the better side early on and deservedly took the lead through Maksim Shatskikh in the 28th minute.

"Uzbekistan were desperate after losing two games earlier and they were aggressive," said Japan coach Takeshi Okada.

"I was very disappointed because we needed a win, but my players did very well to score a goal."

In Seoul, South Korea overwhelmed the United Arab Emirates in a dominant performance.

Korea struck first in the 19th minute when Lee Keun-Ho slammed the ball past goalkeeper Majed Nasser.

Shortly after, Lee Young-Pyo, who plays for Borussia Dortmund, crossed for Park, and when Bashir Saeed fluffed his clearance, Korean skipper Park pounced on the loose ball.

Al Hammadi cut the lead in the 71st minute before Lee Keun-Ho put the match out of reach with 10 minutes left. Kwak added another as the clock ticked down.

Iran hosted North Korea in Tehran holding the psychological advantage having inflicted two defeats on the visitors in qualifying for the 2006 World Cup.

And despite boasting one of the best defences in the region, conceding only two goals in their last eight games, the North Koreans found themselves behind when Mahdavikia opened the scoring in the 10th minute.

Nekounam, who plays in Spain for Osasuna, put Iran further ahead in the 65th minute, with Jong Tae Se's 70th minute header for North Korea making for a nervy conclusion.

AFP

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