AL AIN, United Arab Emirates, Sept 2, (Agencies): Yousef Naser scored a brace to lead Kuwait to a nervy but crucial 3-2 away win over Group B rivals United Arab Emirates Friday.
Naser opened the scoring in the seventh minute and Bader Al Mutawaa made it 2-0 in the 51st, before Naser made the most of a defensive blunder to put Kuwait in complete control in the 65th.
A goal in the 84th by Ismail Al Hammadi and another by Ahmad Khalil in the 89th made it a nervy finish for the visitors, who had been dominant for most of the match.
South Korea and Lebanon are the other two teams in Group B, and Kuwait coach Goran Tufegdzic said the result would give his side confidence ahead of the home clash with powerhouse South Korea on Sept 6.
“I am satisfied with the result,” the Serbian coach said. “We played a team whose players play in a professional league in the UAE and one that is very, very strong.
“Overall we had more chances to score and we created a lot, but that lapse in concentration in the last five minutes allowed them to score.”
It was not such a positive night for UAE’s Slovenian coach Srecko Katanec, who was subjected to chants calling for his dismissal from the home crowd.
Kuwait took the lead early when Yousef Naser’s shot came off defender Hamdan Al Kamali and beat goalkeeper Majed Naser. Katanec’s side had a penalty plea turned when Ismail Al Hammadi went down in the box a minute later.
Kuwait could have doubled its lead in the 38th, but UAE defender Waleed Abbas cleared off the line with a spectacular overhead kick after Mutawaa lobbed Majed Naser following a pass from Fahad Al Enezi.
Kuwait started the second half like the first, confident and looking dangerous and they were rewarded in the 51st when Mutawaa’s shot clipped the bottom of the crossbar before hitting the net.

Australia 2, Thailand 1
In Brisbane, Australia, substitute Alex Brosque saved Australian blushes with a late winner to deny Thailand a fighting point in their Asian World Cup third round qualifier.
The Socceroos trailed to a shock 15th minute strike before coming from behind for a 2-1 victory in their opening match of Group D.
The Thais, ranked 98 places below Asia’s second-ranked team, threatened a major upset when Teerasil Dangda gave them a stunning lead.
But the Socceroos, bidding for their third consecutive finals’ appearance in Brazil in three years’ time, fought back to take all three points with goals from Josh Kennedy and Brosque.
“It feels like a loss,” admitted Australia goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer.
“It was one of our worst performances for a long time and there are no excuses, but the positive is that we got the three points and we got a big kick up the backside. “We know we need to vastly improve on that performance.”
The Socceroos monopolised the ball early before a wayward pass by Neil Kilkenny gave the Thais the chance to launch a lightning counter-attack.
Fast-breaking Jakkraphan Kewprom delivered a quality cross which eluded Lucas Neill and travelled into the path of Teerasil, who beat Schwarzer with a neat finish for his 18th international goal.
A rattled Australia searched hard for a response. Brett Holman twice came close while Everton star Tim Cahill blasted over the bar before forcing goalkeeper Sinthaweechai Hathairattanakool into a diving save.
Concerned coach Holger Osieck used an injury break to talk tactics with skipper Neill while Schwarzer walked to the centre circle to make some forcible points to his midfield.
“Our build-up was slow in the first half, there were too many square balls, there was hardly any penetration and (we) didn’t move the ball quick enough and they found that easy to defend,” Osieck said later.
“I wouldn’t use the term complacency in this context, our intent was good and we were far away from being complacent, but the execution was a different issue.”
Australia’s anxieties eased when Kennedy equalised in the 58th minute after Matt McKay’s shot rebounded off Sinthaweechai into the path of the Nagoya Grampus striker to tap home.
Japan 1, North Korea 0
In Saitama, Japan, North Korea rounded on the referee Friday and said a late red card had ruined their chances after Japan left it to the 94th minute to snatch a dramatic win.
Coach Yun Jong-Su blamed UAE official Ali AlBadwawi for not sending off both players involved in an 83rd-minute collision, and said the corner which led to the Asian champions’ winner should never have been given. Japan dominated a rain-soaked clash bristling with political tensions but North Korea held firm until Maya Yoshida’s headed goal four minutes into injury time.
“I felt the referees were not fair as the red card should have been given to both players and they should have been sent off together,” Yun said.
“They also awarded the corner kick which led to the Japanese goal, a play which did not deserve a corner kick.”
Pak Kwang-Ryong was given his marching orders for a dangerous tackle on Yasuhito Endo. Both players slid into the challenge but the North Korean player lifted a leg, possibly to avoid a collision.
In the breathless final minutes Yasuyuki Konno hit the bar before Yoshida rose to meet Hiroshi Kiyotake’s cross from a short corner and secure all three points for Italian coach Alberto Zaccheroni’s men.
“We played patiently for a long time, but after (striker) Mike (Havenaar) came on the pitch, we were able to use effective long balls. I’m glad that we took three points from the win in our first game,” said Yoshida.
“So many people came to watch the game despite a typhoon that we couldn’t lose this game for them,” he added.
Some 55,000 fans ignored poor weather caused by a typhoon off western Japan and were rewarded as the Blue Samurai dominated the first half.
Yosuke Kashiwagi, replacing injured CSKA Moscow star Keisuke Honda, hit the bar in the 21st minute, Tadanari Lee’s header was saved shortly afterwards and Schalke defender Atsuto Uchida also went close with a blistering shot.
North Korea failed to hit a single shot on goal until Jong Tae-Se (known as the “People’s Rooney”) mustered an attempt at the start of the second half as the visitors began to gain fluency.
But the Japanese maintained the upper hand and substitute forward Havenaar hit the bar in the 73rd minute.
Jordan 2, Iraq 0
In Irbil, Iraq, Zico’s first match in charge of Iraq ended in a 2-0 home defeat by Jordan.
Hasan Mahmoud opened the scoring for Jordan in the 42nd minute after Iraq’s defense failed to intercept a long ball. Striker Abdulah Deeb added the second from inside the penalty area, just two minutes into the second half.
Iraq pressed for an equalizer, but were held in check by a strong Jordanian defense and good goalkeeping.
The match had to be suspended by Bahraini referee Nawaf Shukralla for more than five minutes in the second half when the lights in the stadium went off due to an electricity outage. In many cities in Iraq, residents get only a few hours of electricity a day, a reminder of the difficulties still facing the war torn country.
Zico agreed to take charge of the Iraqi national side on Sunday, with the former Brazilian playing great settling for a one-year contract. He was greeted with cheers of “Zico, the patriot” by Iraqi supporters.
As for the defeat in front of a crowd of 22,000 fans, Zico told a news conference: “Our defenders committed some mistakes, and our task now is to fix these mistakes and not to repeat them in the coming matches.”
Jordan’s coach, Adnan Hamd, an Iraqi national who lives in Jordan, said he was satisfied with his side’s performance.
“I think that we deserve this win because we played better,” Hamd said.
The match was played in Irbil, the capital of the Kurdish autonomous region, 217 miles (350 kms) north of Baghdad. The region is considered safer than the rest of Iraq, where visiting teams have raised concerns about playing.
Iran 3, Indonesia 0
In Tehran, Iran, captain Javad Nekounam scored twice as Iran defeated Indonesia 3-0 at home.
Iran were the dominant side in the first half but failed to score, thanks to Indonesia’s determined defense and good saves by goalkeeper Marcos. Indonesia relied on sporadic counter-attacks.
Osasuna midfielder Nekounam opened the scoring in the 54th minute with a header and headed in again in the 73rd.
Substitute Andranik Teimourian scored Iran’s third goal with a volley from outside the box to give the favorites a deserved victory in front of a crowd of about 70,000 in Tehran’s 100,000-capacity Azadi Stadium.
Bahrain and Qatar are the other two teams in Group E. Iran will take on Qatar in Doha on Sept. 6 while Indonesia will host Bahrain in the same group.
South Korea 6, Lebanon 0
In Goyang, South Korea, a hat trick by new Arsenal signing Park Chu-young lifted South Korea to a 6-0 win over Lebanon.
Ji Dong-won of Sunderland also scored twice as Korea outclassed the visitors from start to finish to take an early lead at the top of Group B in the third round of Asian qualifying.
South Korea are looking to qualify for an eighth successive World Cup and the three points were never in doubt after Park put the hosts ahead with a volley in the eighth minute.
Roared on by a capacity crowd, the Koreans continued to press and Ji hit a post before the second goal came when Park headed in a Ki Sung-yeung corner seconds before halftime.
Lebanon rarely threatened and was reduced mainly to speculative attempts from long-distance, but was hanging in there until Ji made it 3-0 in the 66th minute.
The Sunderland striker headed a cross into Park’s path and though the ensuing shot was saved by the goalkeeper, Ji shot the rebound into an empty net.
Seconds later, Park completed his hat trick with a low shot from the right side of the area. Kim Jung-woo got on the scoresheet in the 82nd minute and Ji made it half a dozen in the 85th.
Uzbeks 1, Tajikistan 0
In Tursunzade, Tajikistan, a second-half winner from veteran striker Maksim Shatskikh earned Uzbekistan a 1-0 victory at Tajikistan.
The Arsenal Kyiv striker netted in the 72nd minute to give the visitors a share of top spot in Group C with Japan, which won 1-0 at home against North Korea.
Despite the home defeat, the narrow margin was a creditable performance by the Tajiks, who only found themselves in the third round after Syria was disqualified for fielding an ineligible player in the previous round.
Shatskikh’s goal followed a penalty awarded after Tajik defender Davronjon Ergashev brought down Uzbek forward Alexander Geynrikh in the area.
Shatskikh took the spot-kick, only to see his shot toward the right-hand corner parried by goalkeeper Alisher Tuychiev. However, the striker quickly pounced on the loose ball and clinically slotted home.
Tajik defender Dilshod Vasiev came close to an equalizer with a free-kick in the 89th minute, but Uzbek goalkeeper Ignatiy Nesterov managed clear the ball off the line.
Syria had originally qualified for Group C by twice defeating Tajikistan in the knockout stage. It was later disqualified after FIFA ruled the team had fielded an ineligible player in both matches.
Uzbekistan and Tajikistan played to a packed 13,600-capacity stadium in the provincial western Tajik city of Tursunzade, which lies just across the border with Uzbekistan.
China 2, Singapore 1
In Beijing, Winger Yu Hai scored the winner as China came from behind to beat visitors Singapore 2-1 in a heated.
Hosting the match 1,900 metres above sea level in Kunming, China fell behind to a goal from 41-year-old striker Aleksandr Duric in the 33rd minute.
China, managed by former Spain boss Jose Camacho, then missed the chance to level on 58 minutes when Singapore’s substitute goalkeeper Lionel Lewis saved a penalty from Qu Bo.
The hosts made no mistake with their second penalty just over 10 minutes later, awarded when Yu Dabao went down in the box although television replays suggested he was lunging for the ball rather than being pulled back.
Zheng Zhi slotted home from the spot, while Yu Hai completed the comeback four minutes later when he prodded in a rebound after Lewis had saved a shot from Yu Dabao.
Frustration bubbled in the Singapore camp at what they saw as two dubious penalty decisions with coach Raddy Avramovich given his marching orders after 71 minutes for protesting too much.
They were angered even further when Duric was brought down in the box but no penalty was given.
Singapore players surrounded Lebanese referee Andre El Haddad after the final whistle gesturing with their hands and shouting with winger Qiu Li then shown a yellow card.

Asian World Cup Qualifying Results
SINGAPORE, Sept 2, (AFP): Results from Asian zone 2014 World Cup football qualifiers on Friday:
Group A
China 2 (Zheng Zhi 69-pen, Yu Hai 73) Singapore 1 (Aleksandar Duric 33)
Iraq 0 Jordan 2 (Hasan Mahmoud 43, Abd Allah Deed 47)
Group B
South Korea 6 (Park Chu-Young 7, 45+1, 67, Ji Dong-Won 66, 85, Kim Jung-Woo 82) Lebanon 0
United Arab Emirates 2 (Ahmad Kalil 84, Ismail Al Hammadi 89) Kuwait 3 (Yousef Al Sulaiman 7, 65, Bader Al Motawaa 51)
Group C
Japan 1 (Maya Yoshida 90+4) North Korea 0
Tajikistan 0 Uzbekistan 1 (Maksim Shatskikh 72)
Group D
Australia 2 (Joshua Kennedy 58, Alex Brosque 86) Thailand 1 (Teerasil Dangda 15)
Oman 0 Saudi Arabia 0
Group E
Iran 3 (Javad Nekounam 53, 75, Andranik Teymourian 87) Indonesia 0
Bahrain 0 Qatar 0