Australia, Japan and South Korea celebrated yesterday after powering into the World Cup finals, reinforcing their credentials as Asia’s best soccer teams.
Japan became the first side anywhere to book their place in South Africa with a hard-fought 1-0 win over Uzbekistan in Tashkent, with Shunji Okazaki’s strike after nine minutes enough to seal their berth from Group A.
Australia joined them after a bruising goalless draw with Qatar in Doha to remain unbeaten after their six games to sit alongside Japan on 14 points.
PHOTO: AFP
Both teams have two games left to play but the focus is now on who grabs the third-placed play-off slot from the group, with Bahrain the clear favorite.
The Bahrainis have seven points to Qatar’s five and Uzbekistan’s four, but with a game in hand. They face Australia away on Wednesday and then have a home tie against the Uzbeks on June 17.
In Group B, South Korea ensured they will appear in their seventh successive World Cup finals with a 2-0 victory over the United Arab Emirates in Dubai.
Park Chu-young opened South Korea’s account in the fifth minute and Ki Sung-yeung benefited from a comical error by the UAE goalkeeper on 37 minutes to seal the issue.
Saudi Arabia, who did not play on Saturday, are in the driving seat to take the second automatic qualifying spot in the group.
They have 11 points to South Korea’s 14, one behind North Korea but with a game in hand.
Iran have seven points but their chances are slim after their goalless draw against North Korea in Pyongyang.
The Saudis face South Korea in Seoul on Wednesday and then have what could be a decisive home tie against North Korea on June 17.
The two third-placed teams in each group play each other in a play-off, with the winner taking on New Zealand for the remaining slot at the finals.
Japan coach Takeshi Okada paid tribute to his players’ hard work in getting them to their fourth successive World Cup finals.
“I’d like to thank our players for their hard work,” Okada said. “It was a tough game, as we had expected, and our players fought hard until the very end of the game. They showed their mental toughness when our opponents wouldn’t let us play our brand of football.
“This is just the start for us. I’m grateful that we have got this opportunity,” he said.
Australia coach Pim Verbeek was also delighted after watching his team make the finals for the second time in a row.
Verbeek will have been equally pleased that his former charges at South Korea also made the grade.
Their coach, Huh Jung-moo, revealed he hoped his northern neighbors would follow his side to South Africa, to give Korea two teams at the tournament for the first time ever.
“I personally hope that North Korea can qualify with us to the finals because it will be the first time in World Cup history to have this,” he said. “I’m really happy that we made it. We played well and we are all satisfied with a performance that saw us win and ensure a place in South Africa in 2010. The players were excellent throughout the qualifiers and they did a great job.”
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei and partner Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia yesterday advanced to the women’s doubles final at the Australian Open after defeating New Zealand’s Erin Routliffe and Gabriela Dabrowski of Canada 7-6 (7/3), 3-6, 6-3 in their semi-final. Hsieh has won nine Grand Slam doubles titles and has a shot at a 10th tomorrow, when the Latvian-Taiwanese duo are to play Taylor Townsend of the US and Katerina Siniakova of the Czech Republic in the championship match at the A$96.5 million (US$61 million) outdoor hard court tournament at Melbourne Park. Townsend and Siniakova eliminated Russian pair Diana Shnaider and Mirra Andreeva 6-7
The San Francisco Giants signed 18-year-old Taiwanese pitcher Yang Nien-hsi (陽念希) to a contract worth a total of US$500,000 (NT $16.39 million). At a press event in Taipei on Wednesday, Jan. 22, the Giants’ Pacific Rim Area scout Evan Hsueh (薛奕煌) presented Yang with a Giants jersey to celebrate the signing. The deal consisted of a contract worth US$450,000 plus a US$50,000 scholarship bonus. Yang, who stands at 188 centimeters tall and weighs 85 kilograms, is of Indigenous Amis descent. With his fastest pitch clocking in at 150 kilometers per hour, Yang had been on Hsueh’s radar since playing in the HuaNan Cup
Taiwan’s Hsieh Su-wei yesterday advanced to the semi-finals of the women’s doubles at the Australian Open, while Coco Gauff’s dreams of a first women’s singles title in Melbourne were crushed in the quarter-finals by Paula Badosa. World No. 2 Alexander Zverev was ruffled by a stray feather in his men’s singles quarter-final, but he refocused to beat 12th seed Tommy Paul and reach the semi-finals. Third seeds Hsieh and Jelena Ostapenko of Latvia defeated Elena-Gabriela Ruse of Romania and Marta Kostyuk of Ukraine 6-2, 5-7, 7-5 in 2 hours, 20 minutes to advance the semi-finals. Hsieh and Ostapenko converted eight of 14 break
Things are somewhat out of control at the Australian Open this year, and that has only a little to do with the results on the courts. Yes, there were some upsets, including Madison Keys eliminating No. 2 Iga Swiatek in the women’s singles semi-finals on Thursday. It also was the first time since 1990 that three teenagers beat top-10 men’s seeds at a Grand Slam tennis tournament. The loser of one of those matches, Daniil Medvedev, got fined US$76,000 for behaving badly. Last year’s women’s singles runner-up exited in the first round. However, the real fuss is happening elsewhere. The rowdy fans, for one
RSS