South Korea and Japan find it hard
TOKYO, Japan (Reuters) -- South Korea and Japan, co-hosts of the last World Cup finals, both made hard work of winning their opening Asian qualifiers for the 2006 tournament.
Cha Du-ri and Cho Byung-kuk scored with headers as Korea beat Lebanon 2-0 at home in Group Seven but not before the 2002 World Cup semifinalists survived a 31st-minute penalty.
Japan missed a penalty and were indebted to an injury-time goal from substitute Tatsuhiko Kubo as the Asian champions scraped a 1-0 win over Oman in Group Three.
In Suwon, South Korean keeper Lee Woon-jae guessed correctly, diving to his right to save from Mohammad Kassas.
Two minutes later, German-based striker Cha gave South Korea the lead and defender Cho added a second five minutes into the second half, nodding in a Park Ji-sung corner.
"The Lebanon team focused on defence, so it was not easy to play them," said South Korea coach Humberto Coelho. "I'm sorry we didn't score more goals but it was still a good performance."
Japan midfielder Shunsuke Nakamura had his spot kick saved by keeper Ali Al-Habsi in the 30th minute.
And he was also guilty of a glaring miss midway through the second half as Japan struggled in their first World Cup qualifier since 1997.
But with disgruntled fans streaming for the exits, Kubo spared Japan's blushes, punishing a defensive error with a clinical left-foot finish in the third minute of stoppage time in Saitama.
In Guangzhou, talisman Hao Haidong struck in the 75th minute as China beat Kuwait 1-0 in an ill-tempered Group Four match in front of a 70,000 crowd.
Tempers flared late in the match, with Kuwait's Fahad Al-Hamad sent off two minutes from time for spitting at defender Li Weifeng.
Also in Group Four, Hong Kong upset Malaysia with a 3-1 away victory in Kuantan.
Elsewhere, midfielder Phan Van Tai Em scored twice as Vietnam thrashed the Maldives 4-0 in Hanoi to go above South Korea on goal difference in Group Seven.
India joined Japan on three points in Group Three with a 1-0 win over Singapore in Margao thanks to a penalty from Renedy Singh four minutes into the second half.
In Tashkent, Anvar Soliyev struck a 79th-minute equalizer as Uzbekistan salvaged a 1-1 draw with resurgent Iraq in Group Two.
North Korea snatched a late 1-1 draw away to Yemen in Group Five, while Turkmenistan overcame Sri Lanka 2-0 at home in Group Eight.
Irmurod Burkhonov scored twice as Tajikistan beat Kyrgyzstan 2-1 in a Group Six clash between the two former Soviet republics in Bishkek.
Safwan Habiab and Roberto Besee scored two goals each to help Palestine beat an inexperienced Taiwan side 8-0 in their Group Two qualifier played in Qatar.
Palestine, who for security reasons will play their three home games at neutral venues, had an easy ride as they started only their second World Cup campaign.
