July 10, 2007	Tuesday	Jamadi-us-Sani 24, 1428

HANOI, July 9: Uruguay-born Sebastian Quintana fired a dramatic late equaliser to earn Qatar a 1-1 draw against holders Japan in their Asian Cup opener on Monday. Naohiro Takahara’s close-range strike after 61 minutes had looked good enough for Japan until Quintana’s deflected free kick flew into the top corner in the 88th minute.

Eintracht Frankfurt striker Takahara clinically tucked in Yasuyuki Konno’s flicked cross with a left-foot volley for his 20th goal in 48 internationals.

But Japan were undone after Yuki Abe’s clumsy foul on Quintana, who blasted the subsequent free kick past Yoshikatsu Kawaguchi from 25 metres with the help of a deflection.

Japan, bidding for a third straight Asian Cup title, trail Vietnam in Group B after the co-hosts’ 2-0 win over the United Arab Emirates (UAE) at the weekend.

Even a red card shown in stoppage time to Hussain Yaser failed to dampen the joy of Qatar coach Dzemaludin Musovic, who was also ordered down the tunnel for protesting the decision.

Yaser will be banned for Qatar’s game against Vietnam on Thursday while Musovic could also face sanction pending an AFC disciplinary meeting.

Japan playmaker Shunsuke Nakamura said Qatar’s last-gasp equaliser had shocked the holders, who never really hit their stride in Hanoi’s clinging humidity.

On Sunday, Tim Cahill scored in stoppage time to salvage a 1-1 draw for Australia against Oman in their opening Asian Cup match in Bangkok.

The Everton midfielder saved Australia’s blushes when he slammed the ball into the back of the net after a frantic goalmouth scramble, denying Oman an upset victory over the tournament favourites.

Oman, who are 26 places below Australia in the world rankings, led for almost an hour after Badar Mubarak capitalised on some sloppy Australian defending to score in the first half.Oman were quick to expose Australia’s defensive problems when they opened them up to score in the 31st minute.

Imad Ali broke down the left hand side, then turned the ball back past two defenders to the unmarked Mubarak, who drilled the ball into the net from inside the area.

Cahill came off the bench with half an hour to go and conjured up the equaliser in the injury time.

Also on Sunday, co-hosts Vietnam stunned the UAE 2-0 with two quick-fire second-half strikes in their Asian Cup Group B opener in Hanoi.

Goals from Huynh Quang Thanh and Le Cong Vinh sparked wild celebrations for Vietnam, who are making their first appearance in the finals since a team from South Vietnam competed in the 1960 finals and lost all three matches to hosts South Korea, Israel and Taiwan.

Striker Faisal Khalil should have put the UAE ahead in the 25th minute but the Didier Drogba look-alike was denied by a fingertip save from the goal-keeper Duong Hong Son.

However, the home side took a surprise lead in the 63rd minute when defender Thanh volleyed home after an embarrassing mix-up in the UAE defence.

Vinh doubled Vietnam’s advantage 10 minutes later, springing the offside trap to finish with a delightful lob from the edge of the area to finish off the Gulf Cup holders.

Japan face the UAE in their second game on Friday. —Reuters