February 07, 2008	Thursday	Muharram 28, 1429

SAITAMA (Japan), Feb 6: Asian heavyweights Japan, Australia and South Korea blazed to convincing victories as they got their World Cup qualifying campaigns off to fliers on Wednesday.

Japan overwhelmed 10-man Thailand 4-1 for the perfect first step on the road to South Africa in 2010.

The Socceroos were equally dominant in their 3-0 thrashing of Asian Games champions Qatar in Melbourne, while the Koreans crushed minnows Turkmenistan 4-0 in Seoul.

Japan, Asia’s top-ranked team, were held 1-1 in the first half in their Group B game but conjured three goals after the break in snowy conditions at Saitama stadium.

“I thought it would it make easier when we took the first goal, but we lost a goal soon after. It was really tough,” said Japan coach Takeshi Okada. “We were very lucky when we took the second goal. We scored because my players were hungry for goals.” Japan went ahead through a Yasuhito Endo free-kick on 21 minutes, only for Teeratep Winothai to equalise with a sizzling shot just a minute later.

The home team had to wait for more than half-an-hour before Yoshito Okubo pounced on a deflected clearance to restore their lead on 54 minutes.

Thailand’s hopes of a recovery looked bleak when Narongchai Vachiraban received his second yellow card for pulling down Yuji Nakazawa.

And Nakazawa headed home a free-kick on 66 minutes to stretch Japan’s advantage to 3-1, before substitute forward Seiichiro Maki completed the scoring in injury time.

Oman play Bahrain in the other Group B showdown later Wednesday, with only the top two teams from the five Asian groups progressing to the fourth and final round of qualifying.

Australia stormed past Qatar in a rip-roaring start for new coach Pim Verbeek as they bid to qualify for the World Cup via Asia for the first time.

The Socceroos did the damage in the first half, with giant Karlsruhe striker Joshua Kennedy opening the scoring on 11 minutes and Everton midfielder Tim Cahill and Palermo attacker Mark Bresciano adding two more before the break.

“We played a fantastic first half. We did really well, we created chances, we scored great goals and we didn’t give them a chance to play football,”Verbeek said.

“It was exactly what the plans were before the game and I am very proud of what they did, especially in the first half, quality was very high and they began to get tired in the second half which we expected they would.”Australia needed the victory having been drawn in Asia’s ‘Group of Death’ along with Iraq and China, who play in Dubai later.

In Seoul, Manchester United ace Park Ji-Sung got on the score sheet in the 70th minute as the region’s most successful World Cup side undid hapless Turkmenistan 4-0 in a one-sided display.

Kwak Tae-Hwi smacked home the crucial opening goal a minute before half-time with Seol Ki-Hyeon puting it beyond doubt with strikes in the 57th and 83rd minutes.

The Koreans are hot favourites to top their group with Jordan and North Korea expected to fight for the runner-up spot.

Singapore start their drive for a first ever World Cup appearance against triple Asian champions Saudi Arabia in Riyadh. Their Serbian coach Radojko Avramovic has turned them into a competitive team and a Saudi victory is by no means guaranteed.

Uzbekistan take on Lebanon in Beirut in the other Group D match.

Elsewhere, Iran play Syria and United Arab Emirates are against Kuwait.—AFP