It is a long road to Brazil 2014 for many of Asia´s sides with the latest action, the third round of qualifying, taking in five groups of four teams.[break]
Former Asian Cup winners Iraq beat Singapore 2-0 away in Group A but wasted several chances in a foul-tempered match that concluded in a row between players and officials from both benches.
Newly appointed Iraq coach and Brazilian legend Zico had lamented his side´s propensity to squander goalscoring chances, and it was more of the same at the Jalan Besar Stadium.
Iraq pressured the Singapore goal from the start, laying siege for long periods, but wayward finishing and determined defending kept the scoreline level at half-time.
Iraq´s persistence finally paid off in the 49th minute when forward Ala´a Abdulzehra put them ahead with a bullet header that beat keeper Lionel Lewis.
Iraqi players celebrate after scoring their first goal against Singapore (AFP, Roslan Rahman)
Lewis, a replacement for the injured Izwan Mahbud, pulled off a string of vital saves to prevent Singapore going further behind.
But Iraq put the game to bed in the 85th minute after a seemingly innocuous chip by prolific Iraqi striker Younus Mahmood sailed past a rooted Lewis and bounced into the goal.
The result means Singapore drop to last place in the standings as the only team with no points in the group, putting their World Cup hopes in serious jeopardy.
"It´s tough losing two games but it´s not over. I think our boys have still got fight in them and we will not give up," said Singapore team manager Eugene Loo.
Later in Amman, China fell 2-1 to Jordan.
In Group D, Thailand were easy 3-0 winners over Oman in Bangkok to get their qualification campaign back on track.
Thailand´s Niweat Siriwong (L) vies with Oman´s Amad Ali Sulaiman Al Hosni (AFP, Nicolas Asfouri)
Thai coach Winfried Schaefer said: "I´m very impressed with the match today. It´s because of our hard work after the match with Australia."
Schaefer´s side went down 2-1 away in Australia in their first game last week and need another victory in their next match, at home to Saudi Arabia next month, if they are to stay in the hunt.
"We have three points today but we still have a tough job ahead playing Saudi Arabia. We have to keep working hard," he said.
In Dammam, Australia came away with an impressive 3-1 win over Saudi Arabia.
Joshua Kennedy gave the visitors the lead before the break, and added a second on 56 minutes.
Saudi Arabia´s Nassir Al Shamrani reduced the deficit nine minutes later with Luke Wilkshire wrapping up the three points from the penalty spot.
In Group C, North Korea put in a disappointing display as they edged out the Tajiks in Pyongyang.
A solitary Pak Nam-Chol goal was enough to give the hosts their first win in the third qualifying round.
The second Group C game saw Uzbekistan and Asian giants Japan share the points 1-1.
Uzbekistan midfielder Server Djeparov opened the scoring early on only for Shinji Okazaki to equalise for Japan after the break.
The result leaves the sides level on four points at the top of the group after two rounds of games.
North Korea, who beat Tajikistan 1-0 earlier on Tuesday, sit third on three points, with Tajikistan still to get off the mark.
In Group E Bahrain ran out 2-0 winners over Indonesia in Jakarta, Sayed Dhiya Saeed Ebrahim on 45 minutes and Abdulatif Ismaeel on 72 doing the damage for the away side, and in Doha 2022 World Cup hosts Qatar drew 1-1 with Iran.
Srecko Katanec was sacked as coach of the United Arab Emirates following their second successive 2014 World Cup qualifying defeat in a matter of days.
The 48-year-old Slovenian - who had been in the job since June 2009 - was fired after the UAE went down to a 3-1 away defeat by Group B rivals Lebanon which followed last Friday´s 3-2 loss at home to Kuwait.
Katanec - who had a distinguished playing career appearing for the then Yugoslavia at the 1990 World Cup finals - had previously coached Slovenia to the Euro 2000 and 2002 World Cup finals and Macedonia.
The other Group B tie ended in a 1-1 draw between Kuwait and South Korea in Kuwait City.
The winners and runners-up of the five groups will be drawn into two pools for the round-robin fourth stage, with the eventual top two in each section earning a ticket to Brazil.
The two third-placed teams will then face each other for the right to contest an intercontinental play-off.
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