South Korea edged past Saudi Arabia 1-0 thanks to a penalty Sunday in the final round of the Asian football qualification for the 2012 Olympics. Watched by some 27,000 fans at the Seoul World Cup Stadium, midfielder Cho Young-cheol converted the penalty in the 33rd minute to keep the home team top of Group A, with seven points from two wins and a draw. As the home team prepared for a free kick from the left wing, Saudi defender Ahmed Walibi got entangled with a South Korean player in the box, attracting the penalty. Cho put the ball past keeper Hussain Shaian and into the low right-hand corner of the net, Yonhap news agency reported. South Korea dominated play in the first half and Cho had a headed goal disallowed in the 25th minute when he was caught offside. Cho almost doubled the score in the 41st minute but was thwarted by a fine diving save from Shaian. The keeper also blocked a rolling shot from substitute Yun Suk-young in the 75th minute. The visitors had few chances to score and only tested South Korean keeper Lee Bum-young in the 66th minute, when he managed to punch away a shot from substitute Abdul Rahim Jezawi. South Korea's next match is away to Saudi Arabia Feb. 5 next year, followed by a visit to Oman. The final qualifier is at home to Qatar on March 14. 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 play-off against an African nation. Uzbekistan, meanwhile, kept Australia scoreless for their third straight qualifier to stay top of Group B with a 0-0 draw at Parramatta Stadium Sunday. The Australians remain two points behind Uzbekistan, where it must travel in February for the key away match of its campaign. In Tokyo, Borussia Monchengladbach summer signing Yuki Otsu's 86th-minute winner gave Japan a 2-1 win over Syria and the outright lead in Group A with a maximum nine points. Striker Otsu got on the end of a Yusuke Higa cross to settle it for the Japanese after Omar Al-Suma's solo effort had canceled out defender Mizuki Hamada's first-half opener. In Kuala Lumpur, Bahrain beat Southeast Asian Games champion Malaysia 3-2.
