BANGKOK, July 24: Three of the four Asian Cup semi-finalists will be given byes to the 2011 finals, the AFC said on Tuesday. This year's 3rd/4th place match takes on added significance with the two losing semi-finalists made to go head-to-head for automatic qualification.
South Korea, Japan, Iraq and Saudi Arabia all have a chance to book their places in the 2011 event in Wednesday's semi-finals.
The AFC also announced byes for the winners of the AFC Challenge Cup competitions in 2008 and 2010, which, along with the host country, takes the number of automatic berths to six.—Reuters