Regional heavyweights Japan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia all suffered surprise defeats as lower-ranked teams dominated Asia's World Cup qualifiers on Wednesday. Three-time qualifier Japan, missing its European-based players, went down 1-0 to Bahrain in Manama with Aala Hubail's 77th minute strike moving the gritty Gulf side to the top of the Group 2 standings. Saudi Arabia, who has been to the finals four times, was thrashed 3-0 by Uzbekistan, while the misery continued for unsettled Asian Cup holder Iraq, who is now rooted to the bottom of Group 1 after losing 2-0 to Qatar. Problem-plagued Iran ended its humiliating scoring drought but threw away a two-goal lead to draw with Kuwait. Mark Schwarzer's late penalty save helped injury-hit newcomer Australia scrape a point away to struggling China to keep the Socceroos top of Group 1. Middlesbrough keeper Schwarzer looked to have lost Australia the match when he brought down Qu Bo in the area, but he instantly made amends by stopping Shao Jiayi's spot kick with a minute remaining in high-altitude in Kunming. “To lose that match to a late penalty would have been a disaster for us because I thought we deserved to get something out of the game,” Schwarzer told Australian television. Uzbeks are now three points clear at the top and a step closer to their first finals. Bosnian-born striker Aleksandar Duric scored his third qualifying goal to help Singapore see off Lebanon 2-0 in the other Group 4 match. South Korea was held to a surprise 0-0 draw by archrival North Korea in a politically-charged Group 3 qualifier played in Shanghai after a row over flags and national anthems. The draw humbled South Korea, Asia's most successful World Cup team, but the point was enough to stay top on goal difference ahead of its northern rival. Turkmenistan was beaten 2-0 at home by Jordan in the other Group 3 game. Oman struck after just 26 seconds to condemn Thailand to their second successive defeat and all but rule out its chance of reaching its first World Cup. Seconds after the kick off, Ismail Al-Ajmi broke free in the area to convert a right-wing cross to defeat a resilient Thai side who failed to find the net in more than a dozen clear-cut chances. The visitors soaked up 89 minutes of constant pressure from the Thais, with goalkeeper Ali Al-Habsi fending off a barrage of attacks from strikers Teerathep Winothai and Teerasin Dangda. __
