JEDDAH: The Saudi Olympic team beat visitors Vietnam 2-0 in their Asian Olympic qualifiers in Abha Sunday. Midfielder Salman Al-Faraj put the Saudi side in the lead two minutes before the break, while Vietnamese defender Tu Huu Phuoc scored an own goal a minute into injury time to double the Saudi team lead. Hiroshi Kiyotake scored one goal and set up another as Japan defeated Kuwait 3-1 in the first match of a two-leg Olympic qualifying tie Sunday while Oman upset China 1-0. Cerezo Osaka midfielder Kiyotake was left unmarked in front of the Kuwait goal and headed home Yusuke Koga's cross in the 18th minute to give the hosts the lead. Defender Mizuki Hamada doubled it in the 37th minute with a header from Kiyotake's corner kick. Yuya Osaka made it 3-0 in the 61st minute but Jaber Jazea reduced Japan's lead seven minutes later with what could be a crucial away goal for Maher Alshemmari's side. The second leg of the home-and-away contest is Thursday. In Shanghai, Al-Hadhri Farah scored just four minutes in to lead Oman to a 1-0 win over China. Miroslav Blazevic's side dominated the match but was unable to find the net in front of a determined Omani defense. Elsewhere, Australia defeated Yemen 3-0 in Gosford, Australia, thanks to two goals from striker Jason Hoffman. In Seoul, South Korea defeated Jordan 3-1. Midfielder Yoon Bitgaram scored the winner from the penalty spot in the 75th minute and Kim Dong-sub added a header 10 minutes later. Mahmoud Saleem Mahmoud Za'tara opened the scoring for the visitors just before halftime. Kim Tae-hwan equalized early in the second half for South Korea, which is seeking its seventh consecutive Olympic appearance. Bahrain's match ended in a 1-0 loss to the Palestinians also Sunday. Khalid Salem scored in the 70th minute for the Palestinians in the near-empty stadium in Riffa. In Iraq, Muhsin Salman scored in the first half to give Iran victory against its neighbor. In North Korea, Ali Ahmed Al Hajeri scored in the second half to lead the United Arab Emirates to a 1-0 win over North Korea at Kim II Sung Stadium. In Beirut, Lebanon and Malaysia played to a 0-0 draw. The winners of the ties advance to the group stage from which three teams will qualify to represent Asia at next year's London Olympics. South Africa wins A nightmare match for Benin goalkeeper Wassiou Salami helped South Africa to a 5-1 victory Sunday and a place among the last eight African contenders for 2012 London Olympic Games places. Coach Moise Ekoue replaced Salami with Bilao Tra during half-time at Rand Stadium in the South African economic hub, but the damage had been done with the home team scoring four unanswered goals. A severely depleted South African side advanced 6-4 on aggregate having suffered a 3-1 loss in the tiny West African country two weeks ago that they blamed on two home-town decisions from the referee. Algeria, Egypt, Ivory Coast, Morocco and Senegal are also through to the eight-nation mini-league final phase set to be staged during December by one of the qualifiers. Earlier a superb individual goal by Abderrazak Hamdallah secured Morocco a 1-1 draw in the Democratic Republic of Congo this weekend and moved his country a step closer to the Games. The stunned home team never recovered and Morocco advanced 3-2 on aggregate having won the first leg of the third round tie 2-1 two weeks ago with Hamdallah snatching a stoppage-time winner. Zambia scored early and late goals to defeat 10-man Algeria 2-0 in northern town Chingola but fell just short overall after trailing by three goals from the first encounter. Sudan was outplayed by Egypt in Alexandria and a 2-0 scoreline did not reflect the superiority of the home team who fought out a goalless first leg.
