Japan 1 - Australia 1; Oman 1 - Iraq 1

Japan and Australia got the day of qualifying underway with the highly anticipated rematch of the 2011 AFC Asian Cup final won by Japan in extra time.  The setting was Brisbane, but the Samurai Blue looked to make themselves at home abroad.  Mark Bresciano had to be subbed off the pitch for an injury very early in the match, forcing Australia to sub in Mark Milligan (pictured, yellow #3).  Milligan had an adventurous day to say the least.  The first half saw some up and down action that was not expected from this clash of Asia's top teams.  Tim Cahill nearly nicked an opener for the Socceroos after some clever dribbling, but Eiji Kawashima stopped his shot in the early going.  Lucas Neill (pictured, yellow #2) nearly scored for Australia, but his errant shot turned into an even better opportunity for Alex Brosque.  Fullback Atsuto Uchida was able to rise and block Brosque's shot with his body, and the threat was averted.  In spite of the flurry of goal chances, the score at the half was 0-0.

Ten minutes into the second frame, Milligan picked up his second yellow card, getting himself sent off and allowing Japan to play with a man advantage.  Keisuke Honda showed no mercy, and his tricky corner kick play earned his team the lead.  Honda played a short corner and saw that his man had gone to the ball.  The ball was played back to Honda as he ran toward the near post, forcing the goalkeeper to commit to him.  Honda then laid the ball off across the six-yard box, where centerback Yuzo Kurihara was available for the tap in.  Japan led 1-0 at this point, but it was to be short lived.  On an Australia set piece, Atsuto Uchida was whistled for a penalty for grabbing Alex Brosque by the waist and flinging him out of the way of the goalkeeper as the ball was coming to Brosque.  Luke Wilshire (pictured, yellow, far right) converted the spot kick, and the match continued on with the score level.  Kurihara picked up his second yellow with a minute left in the match, but no damage was incurred for Japan as they saw out the draw.  Honda was actually standing over a dangerously placed free kick, but the referee whistled the match dead before Honda could execute his set piece.  The match finished 1-1.

Oman and Iraq traveled to Doha, Qatar to play a qualifier today in what was nominally a home match for vagabond Iraq.  A seemingly innocuous free kick from distance awarded to Oman turned into the opener when it floated into the box to find Mohammed Al Balushi, who used his head to make it 1-0.  Nearing the end of the opening period, Iraq started to come alive.  A deep free kick from Nashat Akram was parried aside by a sure-handed Ali Al Habsi, goalkeeper of Oman.  A Younis Mahmoud free kick soon thereafter was handled by a man in the wall during its flight, leading to a penalty which Mahmoud would convert for a 1-1 score.  The half finished with the same 1-1 score in place.

Just as in the first half, whenever a team saw an opening, their opponents would cynically take it away with a tactical foul.  With little more than twenty minutes to play, Raed Saleh made a great run for Oman toward the Iraqi goal, but he was felled outside the box to prevent a good shot.  With just ten minutes left, Mahmoud was fouled from behind in the box, but the referee did not see fit to award Iraq a second penalty. The next minute, Mahmoud again found himself free for a shot after dribbling and bouncing off defenders in the Omani penalty area.  Sadly, his own teammate Karrar Jasim decided to be selfish and got in the way of Mahmoud's shot, leading to Jasim being substituted immediately.  Despite Iraq's best efforts, they only found themselves a 1-1 draw.

Japan 7 pts +9
Iraq 2 pts 0
Australia 2 pts 0
Oman 2 pts -3
Jordan 1 pts -6

Goals
Japan
Yuzo Kurihara 65

Australia
Luke Wilshire 70 PK

Oman
Mohammed Al Balushi 8

Iraq
Younis Mahmoud 37 PK

Match Reports:
http://www.fifa.com/worldcup/preliminaries/news/newsid=1648335/index.html
http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2012/soccer/wires/06/12/2080.ap.soc.iraq.oman.1st.ld.writethru.340/index.html

Highlights:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C89kDsM989U&feature=relmfu (Japan v. Australia)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pUyE33DPn7o (Oman v. Iraq)