By David Gold
March 14 – Japan and the United Arab Emirates both booked places at the London 2012 Olympic Games men’s football tournament, though their fortunes differed wildly during the final round of group games in the third phase of Asian qualifiers.
Japan defeated Bahrain to secure a qualification slot that always seemed likely to be theirs as they went into the game three points clear of Syria.
A comfortable 2-0 win in Tokyo was secured through goals from Takahiro Ogihara and Hiroshi Kiyotake.
“I have a lot of players with potential,” Japan’s coach Takashi Sekizuka said.
“We qualified for the Olympics, but this is merely a start.
“It was really tough to get through the Asian qualifying rounds.
“I feel relieved.”
Syria beat Malaysia 3-0, but their victory was not in vain as it secured their runners up spot in the group and another chance to qualify for London.
The United Arab Emirates were made to fight all the way by second placed Uzbekistan after going 2-0 down in the Uzbekistan capital Tashkent to goals from Zoteev Oleg and Fozil Musaev.
The United Arab Emirates, needing to avoid defeat to qualify, fought back valiantly and Khalil Ahmed brought them level with two goals, before Saleh Haboosh struck a last minute winner to secure their spot.
Iraq drew with Australia (pictured, Iraq in white strip) in the other group game to finish third.
South Korea had already qualified from the third group and drew 0-0 with Qatar in their final match.
Oman secured the runners up spot with a 1-1 draw at Saudi Arabia, meaning they join Uzbekistan and Syria for one final chance to make it to London.
The trio will all meet in Hanoi, Vietnam later this month, and the team that finishes top will then progress to meet African side Senegal for the final spot at London 2012 in a playoff in Coventry on April 23.
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