Australia moved top of Group One after a 4-0 rout of Qatar in Asian World Cup qualifying on Wednesday while South Korea grabbed the Group Two lead after a 4-1 demolition of bottom side United Arab Emirates. The Socceroos have a two-point advantage in the standings after two matches as goals from Tim Cahill and Josh Kennedy plus a brace from midfielder Brett Emerton saw off Qatar in Brisbane.
South Korea, bidding for a place at a seventh successive finals, eased past UAE 4-1 to lead the group on goal difference. Japan, yet to find their feet in the campaign to reach the 2010 finals in South Africa, are now in second place after an uninspiring 1-1 home draw with strugglers Uzbekistan.
In a match delayed by rain, Australia took the initiative after only nine minutes when midfielder Tim Cahill, returning after an eight-month injury absence, seized on David Carney's header and blasted low into the far corner. Emerton doubled the lead with a 17th minute penalty and added his second just before the hour when he picked up a neat Josh Kennedy pass and fired low into the far corner.
Kennedy completed the thrashing when he leapt high to beat goalkeeper Abdulaziz Abdulla and head home a deep cross with 14 minutes left. "The boys did a fantastic job, especially after a difficult start because the rain came down when we were warming up," Australia coach Pim Verbeek told reporters.
"The way we played and controlled the game was fantastic." South Korea, Asia's most successful World Cup team, were ahead after only 19 minutes through Lee Keun-ho and just six minutes later inspirational midfielder Park Ji-sung fired into the top corner to double their lead. UAE pulled a goal back through Ismail Al Hammadi after 71 minutes before Lee added a second and Kwak Tae-hee netted in the dying minutes to secure enough goals to take the group lead.
Iran were playing North Korea in the other Group Two game on Wednesday. Japan slipped up in Saitama when prolific striker Maksim Shatskikh prodded home to put Uzbekistan ahead in the 27th minute before Keiji Tamada bundled in an equaliser five minutes before the interval.
Under-fire coach Takeshi Okada, who led Japan to their first World Cup in 1998, said the result was a setback. "It's a blow but it's a long road so we have to keep going," he told reporters. "We're not pushing the panic button just yet." The top two in each group advance to the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, with one more place going to a fifth team via a series of playoffs and a final decider against New Zealand.