RIYADH: Saudi Arabia and Iran played out a 1-1 draw in their Asian Zone Group B World Cup qualifier at the King Fahd International Stadium here yesterday.

Playing in front of a capacity cheering crowd, the hosts played attacking soccer and held the midfield advantage for the majority of the game, and went ahead in the 29th minute through an Saad Al-Harithi goal.

Though Iran showed good counter-attacking skills, they had to wait till the 82nd minute to restore parity. Javad Nekounam struck true late in the game to help Iran share goals and honors.

In Abu Dhabi, North Korea were lucky to come away with full points against the United Arab Emirates. The Koreans won 2-1 and all the three goals came in a 13-minute span late in the game. An own goal by Basheer Saeed gave the Koreans the lead in the 72nd minute which was embellished by An Chol-Hyok eight minutes later. Though Saeed made amends in the 85th minute with a clinical long-range effort, it was too little too late for the battling UAE side.

Japan beat Bahrain 3-2 in a pulsating opening Group A match in Manama yesterday. Celtic star Shunsuke Nakamura, Yasuhito Endo and Kengo Nakamura scored for the winners while Salman Isa pulled one back for the hosts late in the match. Marcus Tanaka scored an own goal toward the end to give Bahrain a glimmer of hope. But the Japanese proved too good for the home team.

Australia, Qatar and Uzbekistan are the other teams in the group with the winners and runners-up going through to the finals to be held in South Africa.

The third placed side will clash with its corresponding team in Group B and the winner of that match will take on New Zealand (the winner of the Oceania zone) in the final playoff for a possible fifth spot for Asia at the finals.

The Qataris started their campaign with a 3-0 win over Uzbekistan in Doha. Qatar produced a scintillating display at the Al Sadd Stadium.

Playing in hot and humid conditions, Qatar took their own time to assert their supremacy, but once they found their rhythm, it was Jorge Fossati's side all the way to begin their World Cup quest on a commanding note.

Mejdi Seddiq fired the Qataris ahead in the 37th minute. Sebastien Quintana's skills up front put the Uzbek defense under tremendous pressure and it was Quintana's brilliance that resulted in Qatar's second goal in the 72nd minute as the Uruguayan-born forward won the ball in his own half and after advancing a few paces found Majed Mohammed in the penalty area who hoodwinked two defenders to slot home.

Qatar put the issue beyond doubt when Talal Al-Bloushi found himself unmarked and easily beating the Uzbek goalkeeper Nesterov.