The Socceroos successfully completed their first assignment since ditching Oceania for Asia thanks to goals from Travis Dodd and Sasho Petrovski in the last 14 minutes in Sydney.

Japan [Images] struggled to a 2-0 win over Yemen in Niigata but victory kept the holders level with Saudi Arabia on six points after two games in Group A.

Striker Yasser Al Qahtani fired a hat-trick to propel the Saudis to a 3-0 away victory over India.

Australia were missing all their Europe-based players but Dodd's crisp finish and substitute Petrovski's close-range goal three minutes from time maintained the team's momentum after they reached the last 16 of the World Cup.

"We all know what Harry Kewell can do but we needed to know about the others," Australia's caretaker coach Graham Arnold told reporters. "The A-League players showed they can handle international football."

The Australians, who became part of the Asian Football Confederation in January this year, advanced to next year's Asian Cup finals after Lebanon's withdrawal from qualifying.

HEAVY DAMAGE

The Lebanese were forced to pull out because of the heavy damage inflicted on the country by Israeli air strikes.

Australia's victory guaranteed them a top-two finish in a Group D reduced to three teams.

Co-hosts Malaysia, Indonesia, Vietnam and Thailand had already qualified automatically for the 16-team finals.

Japan failed to impress in their first competitive match under former Yugoslavia coach Ivica Osim but second-half goals from Yuki Abe and Hisato Sato spared the home side's blushes.

The Japanese travel to Yemen for the return game early next month and Osim sounded a cryptic warning to his players.

"When we play them in Yemen they could be a very different team," he said. "There is a tale from Greek mythology that says a man can regain his power once he steps back on to his home land."

South Korea maintained their perfect record in Group B as they produced an efficient 3-0 win away to Taiwan in Dutch coach Pim Verbeek's first competitive game.

World Cup striker Ahn Jung-hwan gave South Korea a 31st-minute lead before goals from Jung Jo-gook and Kim Do-hoon after the break secured the points.

IRAN STUMBLE

Iran failed to keep pace with South Korea as they were stunned by a last-minute equaliser in a 1-1 draw with Syria in Tehran.

Elsewhere, Qatar's goalkeeper Abdulaziz Ali was sent off after just 19 minutes but his side still thrashed Bangladesh 4-1 away to take a major step towards qualifying.

Qatar now have nine points from three games in Group F with Bangladesh bottom without a point.

Uzbekistan were held to a 2-2 draw at home by Hong Kong following Shan Kwok Keung's 87th-minute equaliser, leaving Qatar with a five-point advantage over both teams.

China, still recovering from their shock failure to qualify for the World Cup, needed an injury-time penalty from Shao Jiayi to beat Singapore 1-0 in Tianjin.

The Chinese, who had Zhao Xuri dismissed after 65 minutes, top Group E with six points from three games. Singapore are tied on three points with Palestine and Iraq, who meet in Amman, Jordan on Thursday.

Meanwhile, United Arab Emirates beat Jordan 2-1 away to make it nine points from three games in Group C. Oman are three behind after thrashing Pakistan 4-1 in Islamabad.

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