SYDNEY — The second set of group matches kicks off Tuesday at the Asian Cup, with host Australia against Oman at Sydney and two-time champion South Korea playing Kuwait in Canberra. Australia vs. Oman Australia opened the Asian Cup last Friday with a resounding 4-1 win over Kuwait in Melbourne, a confidence-boosting start to the tournament for the hosts after conceding a surprising early goal. Socceroos coach Ange Postecoglou will be forced into changes against Oman, though, with skipper Mile Jedinak struggling with an injured left ankle. Veteran Tim Cahill, Australia's leading international goalscorer, will lead the team in Jedinak's absence. Oman had a 1-0 loss to South Korea in its opening match in Canberra, narrowly missing a stoppage-time equalizer that would have earned the team a valuable point. Postecoglou said he'd heed the lessons learned at the World Cup in Brazil — when the Socceroos took Chile and Netherlands right to the wire before a lopsided loss to 2010 champion Spain in its last group match — and rotate his players in the preliminaries rather than going into later matches with a fatigued starting lineup. Australia and South Korea meet in the last group match Saturday. Postecoglou said Oman made it tough for South Korea, and he expected his lineup to confront a similar bustling, counter-attacking game. Kuwati vs. South Korea Swansea City midfielder Ki Sung-yueng is expected to be central to South Korea's push for back-to-back group wins. Coach Uli Stielike is demanding improvement from his South Korea lineup, which dominated possession and had considerably more chances against Oman but had to settle for a 1-0 win, courtesy of Cho Young-cheol's goal in first-half stoppage time. Oman didn't get a shot on goal until substitute Amad Al-Hosni's header in injury hit the crossbar. Stielike said the two-time champion was under intense pressure in South Korea to improve on the semifinals appearances at the last two Asian Cups. He said he saw positive signs in the second-half against Oman. “I prefer a hard, tough match in our opening game so we can learn from our mistakes and get better and better in the tournament,” he said. “I feel that's better than winning 5-0 and then everyone thinks you can win the Cup and you get smaller and smaller instead.” There was some doubt over the fitness of defender Kim Chang-soo and Bolton Wanderers' midfielder Lee Chung-yong, who were both injured during the opening match. And despite Kuwait's lopsided opening loss to 2011 finalist Australia, Stielike said the team had South Korea's full attention. Kuwait went into the tournament opener with limited preparation under new coach Nabil Maaloul, who is hoping to have attacking options Bader Al Mutawa and Yousef Naser fit and ready to start. Team spokesman Nawaf Al-Enezi said the players had put the loss to Australia behind them. — AP
