Unlikely frontrunners Qatar and North Korea can extend their group leads in World Cup qualifying on Wednesday with victories in two local derbies. Qatar searches for its second successive win against Gulf rival Bahrain while North Korea takes on fierce political foe South Korea at a neutral venue after a nationalistic dispute prompted a location switch. Asia's most successful team and the region's newest will get off the mark when South Korea and Australia kick off their fourth round campaigns. The Socceroos travel to Uzbekistan, pounded 3-0 by Qatar on Saturday, while South Korea goes to Shanghai after the North refused - for the second time in the competition to allow the South's flag and national anthem to be used in Pyongyang. North Korea coach Kim Jong-hun was happy with Saturday's surprise 2-1 win over the United Arab Emirates but said his team would not get ahead of itself in a match where pride could be worth more than points. “We still have a long way to go but it's a good start,” Kim told reporters. “We would have been happy with one point (against the United Arab Emirates) but to return with full points was really, really good.” Bahrain suffered a 3-2 defeat at home to Japan on Saturday but Qatar coach Jorge Fossati believes it is still formidable. “We respect all our opponents and Bahrain's defeat against Japan doesn't mean that we should underestimate them,” the Uruguayan said. Australia, which is taking the Asian route to the finals for the first time after switching confederations from Oceania, is looking for at least a point in Tashkent. Pim Verbeek's side is in good form having beaten the Netherlands 2-1 in a friendly on Saturday and has reportedly chartered its own jet to avoid a complicated journey to central Asia. UAE faces a tough encounter with Gulf powerhouse Saudi Arabia, which is chasing a place at its fifth-successive World Cup. The United Arab Emirates was the stronger team in Saturday's defeat by North Korea and its French coach Bruno Metsu is optimistic it will get over the setback. “These things happen ... it is not the end of all,” Metsu said. “We still have seven matches and everything is possible. We are not out of the race yet.” The top two teams in the two groups progress to South Africa 2010. The fifth-placed team will meet Oceania champion New Zealand in a playoff for one more spot in the 32-team finals. – Reuters __
