Road to Johannesburg

In it to win it

With several football heavyweights including Portugal, Romania and the Czech Republic sweating over their World Cup prospects, yesterday’s results guaranteed the early qualification of three lesser known football nations to the 2010 tournament. Accompanying host nation and automatic qualifiers South Africa will be Japan, Australia and South Korea.

Australia trample on Japan to top their qualifying group

Japan, who co-hosted the tournament with South Korea in 2002, became the first team to book their flights to South Africa by defeating Uzbekistan 1-0 in an early kick-off in Tashkent. Victory for the Japanese ensures a fourth successive World Cup appearance. With the likes of Celtic‘s Nakamura and Wolfsburg‘s Hasebe leading the line, the Japanese will be looking to advance beyond the second round for the first time in their history.

Yesterday’s 0-0 draw against Qatar crowned a triumphant qualifying run for the Australians who breezed through Group A of the Asian qualifying phase picking up 14 points in six games. Combining the guile of Everton‘s Tim Cahill with the energy of AZ Alkmaar‘s Brett Holman, Australia overpowered all opposition remarkbly keeping six clean sheets along the way. Australia, even without Guus Hiddink, stand an excellent chance of advancing to the knockout stages in a heat sweltering Africa.

A 2-0 win over the United Arab Emirates in Dubai allows South Korea a seventh successive shot at the World Cup. Led by the dynamic and experienced Manchester United midfielder Park Ji-Sung, the Koreans bagged 11 goals in six matches making them the most prolific force in Asian qualifying. Despite their potency in attack, they will be hard pressed to surpass the semi-final achievements enjoyed in 2002.