Asian Cup 2015 - Round 3 Review

The group stage concluded with this package of games, although qualification had been decided for three of the groups the order of qualification was still up for grabs and would have a crucial influence on how the potential semi-final make up would look.

Group A had already given up its two qualifiers so only the race for top spot was left to decide. Australia took on South Korea in the game that would decide top billing and the Koreans claimed a 1-0 victory. The deciding goal came from Lee Jeong-Hyeop in the thirty third minute and although Australia created several chances they were unable to convert and thus had to settle for second spot in their group. The dead rubber game in the group had Oman facing Kuwait and the Omanis claimed a 1-0 win thanks to a goal from Abdulaziz Al-Maqbali in the sixty ninth minute.

In Group B China had already qualified and took on North Korea where they won 3-1 and thus top the group to face Australia in the quarter-finals. Two goals from Sun Ke in the first and forty second minutes settled the game before a consolation own goal from Gao Lin in the fifty sixth minute gave North Korea a little hope of a draw.

The real excitement in this group surrounded the Uzbekistan versus Saudi Arabia to decide who would finish in second place and thus take on South Korea in the quarter-finals. Uzbekistan claimed the honours with a 3-1 win thanks to a brace from Sardor Rashidov in the second and seventy ninth minutes along with a Vokhid Shodiev seventy first minute goal gave the Uzbekis. Saudi hope fluttered briefly in the sixtieth minute with a penalty from Mohammad Al-Sahlawi but it wasn’t to be. So on Thursday China will play Australia in Brisbane while South Korea will face Uzbekistan in Melbourne.

Group C already had Iran and UAE in the qualifying slots so the battle was on to top the group when they played each other, Iran came out on top 1-0 with a late goal from Reza Goochannejhad in the first minute of added time at the end of the second half.

Pre-tournament dark horses Qatar faced up to Bahrain in the other game and Bahrain claimed a 2-1 to win to send Qatar home empty handed with full house of defeats. Sayed Dhiya Shubbar opened the scoring for Bahrain in the thirty fifth minute only for Qatar to equalise in the sixty eighth minute through Hasan Al Haydos. Sayed Ahmed scored the decisive goal for the Bahranis in the eighty second minute to claim their first victory of the tournament.

Group D saw Japan claim top spot and a flawless group campaign when they beat Jordan 2-0 with goals from Keisuke Honda and Shinji Kagawa in the twenty fourth and eighty second minutes respectively. The Blue Samurai finish with three wins and look every inch the pre-tournament favourites.

Second place was thus up for grabs for Iraq and they made no mistake beating Palestine 2-0. Younis Mahmoud and Ahmed Yasin put home the winning goals in the 48th and 88^th minutes to secure second place and thus will face neighbours Iran in Canberra while Japan will face up to UAE in Sydney on Friday.

Asian Cup Quarter-Final Fixtures

South Korea v Uzbekistan

China v Australia

Iran v Iraq

Japan v UAE