Australia hosts Uzbekistan Sunday under pressure to kick-start its misfiring Olympic qualifying campaign after a pair of unimpressive draws. Aurelio Vidmar's under-23s will be up against it in Sydney after September's home draw with UAE, followed by last week's 1-1 result against Iraq in Doha, prompted a raft of critical coverage. “But we haven't lost, either,” said coach Vidmar, according to the Sydney Morning Herald. “Don't write us off yet.” Australian media has already pounced on the slow start as evidence that the country will struggle to replace the ‘golden generation' of Harry Kewell, Tim Cahill, Lucas Neill and Mark Schwarzer. But Vidmar insisted the ‘Olyroos', who were frustrated by some heroics from Iraqi goalkeeper Jalal Hassan last week, were just one win from getting back on track as they lie only two points behind Uzbekistan in Group B. “It was a missed opportunity,” Vidmar said of Tuesday's game. “Had we won, everything would have been looking fine. But we didn't, and that's disappointing. But it's not the end of the world, we'll have a much better idea after Sunday at what sort of position we are in.” A-League defender Curtis Good and Ben Kantarovski have been called up for Sunday's game as Australia bid to top Group B halfway through the six-game qualifying round. The top teams from three groups gain an automatic ticket to London 2012, while the second-placed sides enter a round-robin with the prize of a playoff against an African nation. In Tokyo, Japan and Syria will put their perfect records on the line when they battle for the leadership of Group C. Group A leader South Korea will hope to bounce back from its 1-1 draw with Qatar mid-week as it takes on Saudi Arabia in Seoul. Second-placed Oman faces Qatar in Muscat. And Southeast Asian Games champion Malaysia will be bidding for its first points of qualifying when it meets Bahrain in Kuala Lumpur in Group C. SK clubs lose Champs spot The South Korean top flight club has lost one of its four automatic places for the group stages of the Asian Champions League despite being the tournament's most successful nation. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) released the breakdown of direct entrants for the 2012 edition late Thursday with K-League clubs, winner of three of the last nine tournaments, guaranteed only three places. Iran and Saudi Arabia have also lost places, while Qatar's direct allocation doubled to four, giving a third of their 12-team Stars League berths in 2012. Al-Sadd became the first Qatari winner of Asia's premier club tournament when it overcame South Korea's Jeonbuk in the final earlier this month. The AFC said the decisions had been based after assessments by various bodies that deemed only Japan (four slots), Qatar and Uzbekistan (two slots) fully met their entry criteria.
