Final push for Asian teams on road to SA

SINGAPORE, Sept 4 (AFP) Asia's top teams get their final push towards the World Cup finals in South Africa underway Saturday with Japan facing a tricky encounter in Bahrain and Saudi Arabia battling Ali Daei's Iran. brOf the 46 Asian Football Confederation nations who dreamed of making the finals in 2010, just 10 remain in the hunt-brAustralia, Bahrain, Japan, Iran, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, the two Koreas, UAE and Uzbekistan. brFour will qualify automatically, with the third-placed teams in the two groups of five playing-off for the right to meet the Oceania representative, likely New Zealand, for a spot at the global showpiece. brJapan, arguably the continent's football power and a team that has qualified for the last three World Cups, goes into its clash against Bahrain in Manama desperate to take all three points. brAs I have always said, this match will be the most important for us, said coach Takeshi Okada. brI think it will be a tough match. But if we overcome this, our team can step up further. So we want to take the first match no matter what. brOkada hasn't had a particularly good lead-up, with a 3-1 home defeat by Uruguay last month raising concerns. But with Celtic's Shunsuke Nakamura back in the fold, albeit with a right ankle injury, he is confident. brI see this (defeat to Uruguay) as a blessing in disguise. It's better to get a tough game in, rather than get thrashed by Bahrain right off the bat. brBahrain are in better shape, beating Burkina Faso and United Arab Emirates in warm-ups. brWith Australia playing a friendly against Holland Saturday, the other Group A match sees Qatar take on Uzbekistan in Doha. brQatar are without four key players-the injured Musad Al Hamad and Yousef Ahmed and the suspended Wisam Rizq and Hussain Yasser. Coach Jorge Fossati insists he has a strong complement of reserves. br I know how important these players are to Qatar's performance and I was really hoping they would be able to play in this match, the Uruguayan told reporters. brBut as a coach I am expected to look for solutions and I will not call new players and make do with the reserves I have. brIn Group B, plenty is at stake in Riyadh for heavyweights Saudi Arabia and Iran. brWith South Korea, Asia's most successful team on the world stage having qualified for the past six World Cups, also in the group but not playing Saturday, dropping points could prove costly. brIranian coach Ali Daei said he had a decent squad capable of going all the way. brThe current group of players are the best in Iranian football, they are highly motivated, ambitious and their only aim is the success of the national team, he told reporters. brSaudi Arabia is our traditional opponent with good players and team composition, but we have prepared ourselves with tactical trainings for this encounter.